


Calemine 2: Electric Boogaloo

by Professor Muscovite (floramei)



Series: Calemine: The Movie: The Game: The Movie [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-01-30 13:55:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 65,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12654879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floramei/pseuds/Professor%20Muscovite
Summary: Calem's problems can't catch her if she just keeps running, right?a Pokémon Moon nuzlocke story (with elements of Ultra Moon), sequel to another story of mine but hopefully written so you don't have to read that first.





	1. Prologue

Languid, would be the way Calemine would describe life in Hau’oli City in the summer. Humid, of course, and hot, equally obvious. Even here, in the big city, little seemed to move more quickly than absolutely necessary. Only the tourist attractions seemed to have much vim and vigor at all in the afternoons, and that was a facade for the tourists they served. 

The beach, of course, was a different matter. Tourists and locals alike lounged on the sand, splashed in the seaspray, or swam deeper in. The ocean was either a revered neighbor and friend, or the main attraction aside from the palm trees, Pokémonic and otherwise. 

It took antsy, wanderlusting Calem a surprisingly long time to get irritated with the way of life, here. Part of that had to do with running here on a whim, and as she refused to become a trainer again, she had no funds and no claim to sleeping in a Pokémon Center, so finding someplace to sleep each night was an adventure in and of itself. 

It wasn’t like she’d  _ planned _ on being homeless when she got here, of course. She just hadn’t realized how badly she wouldn’t want to train Pokémon, and her backup plan of calling the girl she’d met last Winter here, Marzanna, to maybe crash in her place for a while fizzled when Marzie didn’t answer any of her texts. When Calem finally broke down and just called the number on her Holo Caster, it turned out that the number was no longer in service. So much for that, then. 

But as long as she didn’t draw attention from the authorities, sleeping under the stars was typically pleasant, and even nostalgic of previous Pokémon journeys in other regions. Balmier, here, than anywhere but maybe Hoenn, though Calem hadn’t been old enough to challenge the League when she lived there. 

“Yo,” a voice startled Calem out of her snooze on a park bench near the outskirts of the city. “You doin’ all right, bruv? I seen ya around here a lot… More than someone just enjoyin’ the sights, I mean.” 

Calem sat up and stretched, appreciating the moment she had before she had to leave. She’d only been run off by an officer once, and he wasn’t even rude, but it still wasn’t a pleasant experience. Kinks out of her back, though, she now looked at her company: a young man, probably a teenager, with a white skullcap on--pun unintentional on Calem’s part, but perhaps on the guy’s, as she realized that the dark spots on the front resembles a skull’s eye sockets. Black tank top, shorts, armband and even a handkerchief covering the lower half of his face, though the kid was lowering that as he sat down next to Calem. 

Nicer than being run off, but… “I’m not sure how old you are, but answering questions like that sounds like a great way to get yourself screwed.” 

The kid’s eyes widened for a moment, then he said, “Oy, sorry br-- I mean… Didn’t realize yer a girl. And for the other thing, I get’cha. Team Skull really did me a solid, though, I was homeless too after my folks kicked me out. Won’t hear nothin’ good about it from anyone else, ovs, but we treat our own right.” 

Calem squinted, and said, “Good to know, I guess.” Not that she’d take that offer, of course-- she’d seen news of other organized crime in other regions, taking after Team Rocket and garnering a certain kind of respect, or at least notoriety, by using the ‘Team’ moniker -- not to mention, only a few months before she’d  _ entirely _ too involved in the Team Flare incident/Day Of Hell On Earth for comfort. 

“Well, aright,” the dude said as he stood up. “I go by J. Pronounced like the bird, but it’s just the one letter. If you ever need a hand, like… Skull’s got folks doing shit everywhere, just like, ask y’know? If you look like a tourist some of us might try an’ rob ya, but ask and I’m sure you’ll be home sweet home in no time.” 

On the other hand, this kid sure didn’t look or sound anything like any of the organized crime Calem had seen on the news, and was leagues away from even the lowest Team Flare member. “I’ll think about it,” Calem said. “See ya around…?” 

The guy, J apparently got up and gave a sharp wave at Calem in lieu of goodbye, and walked off. 

Well, if the lowlifes were starting to notice Calem as a fixture on park benches in Hau’oli, others would start noticing sooner rather than later. It was time to figure out something different. 

 

* * *

 

After Calem managed to score a camera from the Tourist Bureau for free, she figured she’d take pictures. After years of Training, she was decently good at both avoiding attracting Pokémon attention when she wanted, and at getting it when she did. No professional, yet, but there were a number of spots around the city where she could get some really nice photos. Once, she ventured out of the city and into the cave on the cape, but without a Pokémon of her own-- well, here, at least; her Trainer ID was probably still active, but Calem hadn’t really had a passport when she decided to just stay here.

...Before she’d gotten on that tangent, though, Calem had been recalling that she’d tried to go into the cave of Ten Carat Hill, but without a Pokémon to defend her had been lucky to get out with her hide, let alone the blurry shot of a weird grey and gold… lizard…  _ thing _ . A rock type Pokémon, probably, though with the gold accents probably a rare one. 

Other than photos, a few of which she posted online and some of which she tried to sell to stock photo companies (to little avail), she tried to find odd jobs to do around the city. There was a Capture Contest one day, to catch (and release) as many Pokémon as possible within ten minutes; another just wanted to be reminded of the date, though the reward for that was only some Pretty Wings. Not even stat-boosting, just the kind that you could buy at a tourist shop, and that Calem had no use for at all. 

With a provided Tauros to ride, Calem cleared all the rocks on the Mahalo Trail, and let her see the smaller, cozier Iki Town besides. Almost entirely devoid of tourists, it was cozy and homey and… not at all to Calem’s tastes. Depressed as she’d been since the Flare incident, riding Tauros, directing it to rush headlong into rocks that it crushed like nothing, gave her a thrill like she hadn’t felt in a while. 

Outside of the Pokémon Center one night, Calem was struck by the sight of a young woman, all in white, leaning forward on the fencing at the edge of the gardens, staring out at the sky. She reminded Calem of a Kirlia, almost, though her hair was blonde, not green, and the broad-brimmed hat was certainly an addition. 

She hugged a duffel bag to her side, and said, “It’s so beautiful, I wish I could share it with you.” 

Approaching from behind the girl, Calem took a spot beside her on the fence and said, “Who is it you’re missing?” 

The girl jumped visibly, turning toward the source of the sound and drawing into herself. “O-oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t… see you there.” 

With a grin, our hero put a hand out and said, “Name’s Calem, cutie. What’s yours?” 

Looking between the hand and Calem’s face, the girl finally said, “I-I’m Lillie.” At no point did she reach out to shake the offered hand, or even definitely reject it; she just kept her arms close to herself in a defensive gesture. 

Shrugging, Calem turned to look at the stars herself. “If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. Beautiful night, though.” 

Lillie nodded. “Yeah, it is.” 

The bag Lillie was holding seemed to… squirm? At least it looked like it moved in a way that wasn’t just due to Lillie’s shifting movements. 

“Is, uh… that gonna be okay?” Calem asked, gesturing towards the movement. 

Lillie smiled weakly at Calem, before turning to face her bag and said in a too-loud whisper,  _ “Please stop, I can’t--” _ The bag  _ definitely _ wiggled now, and Lillie stepped back from the railing. “U-um, I, you know Professor Kukui is helping me take care of my Pokémon, and I-- I think I need to go now.” Without so much as a wave, Lillie was off. 

It was good to know that the Professor apparently was okay with… whatever that was. As antsy as Calem was becoming, treading and retreading the same streets day in and day out, maybe a Pokémon Journey would really be what she needed. No Flare, no Lysandre, no Kalos, no stupid sexy Professor to remind her of All That Business. Just a happy jaunt across Alola with… whatever the Grass-type Starter here was. 

 

* * *

 

“Oh my god, Marzanna!” Calem shouted, as she noticed the girl sitting in the ferry station across a few aisles. “Marzie, that’s you, isn’t it?”

The brunette looked up in surprise. “Oh, you can s--?” She then shook her head, starting again, “Yeah, Calem, it’s me.” 

Calem went to hug the other girl, but she backed away. “No, don’t touch me, I’m definitely sick,” she said, putting her arms in front of herself in an X. “Not like, so contagious I don’t want to go out, but don’t want to sniffle on you or something.” 

Laughing, Calem said, “Fair, fair. Still, what the hell happened to you? I tried to call you to say I’d be in town, but your number’s down.” 

Marzanna blinked, then bit her lip and looked off to the side. “Sorry, I’ve just been super busy with… School and whatever, you know? I took a nasty spill off the ferry when I came here at the end of the semester, and I lost… my phone, among other things. Never got around to getting a new one.” 

Calem nodded. “Well it’s good to see you. Do you have a landline I could call? I know most people don’t these days, but… Or, if you don’t mind, what’s your address so I can just like, hang out?” 

Shaking her head, Marzanna said, “No, I was just… kind of staying wherever was easy for a little while, but today I’m-- I’m actually going to take the ferry. After last time I’m kind of scared, but I really want to see my parents again… Would you mind waiting here with me?” 

“Of course I don’t mind!” Calem said, perhaps a little too loudly. “I know we’ve mostly talked via text, but I dunno, I’m just… really glad you’re okay. I got a little worried when I couldn’t reach you.” 

“R-really?” Again Marzanna blinked, and her eyes seemed extra shiny. 

“Yeah…?” Calem answered. “You’re my friend, right?” 

Although Marzanna was smiling, she sounded a little choked up when she said, “That’s… good to hear. Thank you, Calem.” 

For about an hour more, the two girls talked, and the ferry station emptied of people. Finally, at about sunset, the last public ferry was boarding. 

“Well, I guess that’s my cue,” Marzanna said. “Thank you… I think-- I’m ready to go now. I can’t wait to meet my parents again, too! I’m actually excited, not afraid.” 

“Yeah you are!” Calem said. “Go on, you’ll be fine, Marzie. Here, let me write down my number for y--” 

Marzanna shook her head. “Don’t bother, Calem, but thank you. Just… take this to remember me by, if you would?” Marzie stuck a hand into her pocket and scrunched up her eyes like she was concentrating hard on something; after a moment, though, she took her hand out, and held-- a Comet Shard almost identical to the one she’d given Calem last winter at the Observatory. 

When Marzanna pressed it into Calem’s hand, the latter shivered at the former’s cold hands. Still, it was kind of rough, being brushed off like that, when they seemed to be at least decent friends. “You sure? Not even a heat pack for your hands with my number on?” 

Laughing, Marzanna said, “Thanks, I really do appreciate it… but I have to go.” She smiled and waved at Calem, then turned to run through the turnstile towards the ferry. 

Very quietly, somehow, even though Calemine had heard the machinery clank for every other passenger for the past hour. By the time Calem had had that thought, though, she was gone. 


	2. Starters

“You’ve  _ got _ to be shitting me,” Calem said to herself, staring at the valid passport she pulled out of her duffel bag. It would expire soon, sure, but Calem hadn’t needed to go… “urban camping” for the past three weeks. 

It wasn’t like Calemine didn’t know she had one  _ somewhere _ , but she’d left Kalos in such a hurry that after not finding it when she was on the ocean liner, Calem had assumed she’d left it there. 

At any rate, that was the last barrier to registering as a Trainer here in Alola, now that Marzanna was gone to meet her parents or whatever. In hindsight, maybe they were homophobic and Calem’s more-than-friendly treatment for their daughter might have put them both in danger-- still, Calem would’ve appreciated the explanation, or  _ something _ . 

On the other hand, they’d only been flirting over text for a few months. Which, all right, is about as long as Calem had been flirting with Professor Sycamore, of all people, before he wanted to add her to his… ‘Harem’ wasn’t the right word, but whatever you’d call a polyamorous relationship. 

Whatever the case, going down this train of thought wouldn’t help anyone. Calem gathered her things up in her bag, and went to the Hau’oli City Hall to complete her registration. 

 

* * *

 

 

Somewhere in this town was the Kahuna of Melemele Island who would complete the pokemon gifting ceremony. Apparently, while it was…  _ unusual,  _ to say the least, for an adult to go on a Pokémon Journey through Alola, there were no particular roadblocks to that aside from odd glances from strangers. Hardly a steep price to pay, given that regions with more official League involvement had required Calem to file, and pay for, a Professional-grade Trainer’s License, rather than the more typical child’s permit. After all, most folks didn’t feel the need to keep even six Pokémon, let alone the dozens that Calem caught per-region. Nor did most folks battle competitively. Sure, a battle with a friend here and there was great, and nearly everyone with a Pokémon or so did  _ that _ . But the Badges, and eventually (maybe) the Elite Four? The various Battle Subways and Maisons and Towers? Who had time for that, while working any kind of job aside from being a professional trainer?

But no, in Alola it seemed they had a more laid-back approach. True, they also didn’t get the funding that other regions did-- that was apparent by the ramshackle state of the beach house that Calem eventually realized was Alola’s Pokémon Laboratory, workplace of Professor… What did the guy at the city hall say his name was again? It wasn’t Coconut, but sounded something like that, she thought. 

The lab had clearly been closed, which wasn’t terribly surprising given it was nearing ten o’clock at night. Calem had been perfectly content to wait until morning, but the nice young kid at the hall had insisted that the Kahuna would still be up and about, and would be happy to let her meet the Starter Pokémon. 

Calem was starting to disbelieve that, because this town… Iki town, the sign read-- had all of a dozen houses that Calem could see, and the Kahuna didn’t seem to be in or around any of them. 

“Oh, maybe he’s up by the shrine?” one kid had said. “Gramps talks to the Tapu sometimes, and I guess the festival is coming up soon.” 

Finally, a solid lead. “Where’s this shrine then?” Calem asked, grinning. 

The ...preteen? Maybe a bit older? --gestured with his thumb, partially to one side but mostly up. “That way, up the trail, past the bridge. Can’t miss it, there’s no branching paths.” 

Looking in the gestured direction, Calem’s smile fell as she realized how steep the path was. Still, it wasn’t like she hadn’t climbed before, more than this. But it was  _ late _ and she was  _ tired _ but the kid at city hall had even called ahead or something, so the Kahuna  _ ought _ to be expecting her and it would be rude to not show up, which was not the kind of first impression she wanted to make on one of the region’s leading figures. 

“Thanks, kid,” Calem finally said, and waved at him as she walked away.

He waved back and headed off to do his own thing, adding a last, “Good luck finding him, cuz!” 

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re awfully young to be a Kahuna, aren’t you, uh-- Lillie, wasn’t it?” 

Lillie, dressed exactly the same as she had been when Calem met her a week or so ago, turned around with a start-- eyes wide and hands clutched to her chest. “Oh--uh, do… I know you?” She shook her head vigorously, braids swinging to and fro, hat bouncing off kilter. “That doesn’t matter now-- I’m no kahuna, sorry, but-- I need-- help my Nebby, please!” She gestured with a pale, thin arm towards the rope bridge behind her, where there was a small flock of Spearow swarming on  _ something _ that she couldn’t see. “I-I-I’m afraid of, of, Pokémon and Nebby can’t battle she’s not that kind of Pokémon, and I don’t know what to do-hoo-hoooo…” The last word devolved into something like sobbing, with all the gasping for breath, but none of the tears. Hyperventilating, that was the word for it. 

“I’m, uh… not sure--” Calem started to say, but stopped. Normally she’d battle these Spearow off with a Pokémon, but she had none.  _ If only the damn Kahuna had been around when she’d started to look for him. _ But… these weren’t a Trainer being pointlessly cruel, these were wild birds looking for something to eat. Stakes were higher, so Calem needed to be more… creative in her problem solving, rather than just giving up. After a moment more of thought, she said, “Where’s her Pokéball, I’ll try to get in close enough to withdraw her.” 

Lillie looked away from Calem and didn’t respond for a moment. “She, uh,” Lillie eventually managed, “doesn’t… have one.” 

Calem blinked. “You know that’s illegal, right?” Then she shook her head, adding, “Whatever, not important now, it just… makes things a lot harder.” 

No Pokémon to counter the Spearow, no Ball to return it to, from a distance or up close… and an owner who couldn’t look for help because she was illegally keeping it. 

Well, fuck it. Looked like there was only one option left. 

(Two, really-- Calem  _ could  _ just walk away… but she didn’t want to admit that she wanted to impress the pretty girl and didn’t like to see those big sad eyes so teary.) 

So, before she had a chance to think about why this was a  _ terrible fucking idea _ , Calem was running across the old swinging bridge-- nearly tripping on several uneven planks, a few almost breaking under the sudden weight of her feet. Soon, Calem could see… at least a dark fuzzy  _ something _ that the Spearow were focused on, then she was closer and okay it wasn’t just that she really needed glasses the thing was actually weirdly gaseous. Not quite a Gastly, more like its… cuter cousin? Alolan Pokémon were apparently different from the members of species she’d seen elsewhere-- clearly not  _ all _ of them, given the Spearow were just as brown and bristly as ever-- but it was nice to see that Gastly was so adorable here, anyway. 

Whatever the case, she was now actively running into this horde of sparrows and  _ ow holy Arceus that fucking hurt.  _ Calem had run into the odd non-Pokémonic bird in her travels-- rare, but still around in some places-- and their small beaks had hurt, but not like this. Not like even the blunt force would be enough to bruise, and when open there was no question of if they’d draw blood. 

But okay, she could just scoop the Pokémon up and run-- scoop it up, and--  _ “You’ve got to be kidding me, _ ” Calem said for what, the third or fourth time that day? It turned out that the Pokémon was tangible enough to be hurt by attacks-- of course it was, that was how Pokémon Battle worked. Not Normal type attacks, clearly, but Flying type Peck was very much an issue. Pick Up And Grab, with her dumb human hands, was  _ apparently _ classed as a Normal Type Maneuver, though. 

Though… it seemed like the Spearow were at least afraid enough of a creature as large as Calem to slow down their attacks. It sure hurt, but there weren’t half the birds there had been earlier. “Look, uh, Nebby was it?” Calemine looked down to the Pokemon she was standing over. “Just-- try to go back to the other side, I’ll hold them off I guess.” 

And then one of the Spearow when for a cheap shot at her ankle, and Calem was pretty sure she wouldn’t be walking back across the bridge with the amount of blood she saw, as she started to fall. That tendon looked done. 

As she started to fall the birds redoubled their swarming, confirming that yes, they’d been going easy on her for the past minute. Unfortunately, with her falling forward, the only place for Nebby to go that was out of her path of falling was right back into the Spearow. 

Calem was more occupied by the painful impact on her elbows, and more importantly how the plank she landed on splintered-- the one between her knees and her elbows was missing, and these planks were worryingly far apart. But, thankfully, it remained intact. 

For a moment, anyway. Nebby apparently  _ could _ retaliate, as it let out a bluish burst of energy in all directions, which sent the Pidgey a foot or so back, at least, but also was enough to break the board that was bearing at least half of Calem’s weight. 

There wasn’t a moment to shift that weight before the plank was gone, and suddenly Calem was tumbling down-- and… so were several of the Spearow? Had that burst really been enough to faint them? 

Of course, wondering that now was absurd. Granted, it was better than thinking about the splat coming in three, two, one… 

One…

...

Calem opened her eyes to find herself being deposited on the cliff where Lillie stood. Her Alolan Gastly waited on the other side of the gorge, flailing of the more two blue parts of its gaseous form-- which sucked, sure, given that the blast hadn’t just broken the plank but the ropes on the bridge holding it up. 

But that was only an issue for a moment, as the Pokémon that had caught Calem now flew back to the other side, and Calem got a good look at her savior for the first time-- somewhat humanoid, pitch black skin with orange and yellow feathery skirt, headdress, and ...shield?-styled bits. Awfully fancy. 

It didn’t just pick Nebby up and return to this side, though. It hovered in the air facing the little Gastly, and… it sure looked like it was having a conversation. It was hard to see much from here, especially without glasses-- Calem hadn’t cared before now that she didn’t have them, but dammit what was happening with those Pokémon? That big fancy one seemed pretty special. 

...Speaking of, it seemed to have healed her injuries from the Spearow that had attacked her, because at worst Calem felt a little tired. Maybe her ligament or whatever in her ankle hadn’t been severed, but she  _ knew _ she’d been bleeding in several spots-- and had the bloodstains in her clothes to prove it. But on a personal one-over, found nothing but a dull soreness where she’d been attacked. Huh. 

At any rate, the larger Pokémon was finally crossing back to this side of the cliffs, Nebby in its arms. ...His arms? Calem felt like this Pokémon had a masculine energy around it, but then given her own butch appearance, tried not to gender people on their appearance, and the abundance of male Sylveon and Gardevoir and such proved that it was an even worse idea to try to gender Pokémon. 

When the Pokémon had set the Gastly down, Lillie’s relieved cry reminded Calem that she was even there. “You’re-- you’re okay, Nebby! Thank you, both of you--” and there was more, but Calem found it hard to focus. 

The humanoid Pokémon floated in front of Calem for a moment, giving her a long look. Then it crackled with a burst of electricity and sparks, then shot into the sky, eventually bending towards the other side of the cliffs. 

After… Calem wasn’t sure whether it was moments or minutes, honestly-- she noticed Lillie talking to the Gastly. “--know you couldn’t move for  _ days _ after you used it last time. Don’t tire yourself out like that, okay?” She was kneeling on the ground, stroking the approximate edge of the ball of gas like one would with a furry Pokémon. “It’s time to get back in the bag, now, though.” 

And suddenly Calem remembered the shuffling in Lillie’s bag the first time she’d seen the frilly girl, when Calem asked her about the stars she was looking at. “Are you  _ serious _ ?” Calem demanded. “Your illegal Pokémon is living in a  _ duffel bag? _ ” She turned around and looked at the ruined rope bridge and ran her fingers through her hair, eventually gripping it tightly in frustration. 

Lillie froze at the accusation, and was silent for a few moments before finally responding, “I, I-- I’m, I’m sorry, I don’t-- I uh-- I can’t--” 

“Look,” Calem interrupted Lillie’s train of false starts, “I don’t care what the reasoning is. The illegal is like, good to fuckin’ know, but-- unless the Pokéball designs on the end of that bag aren’t just decorative and, I don’t know, old Kaminko finally got his Pokéball-knockoff products to, A,  _ work _ and B to some kind of  _ market _ , all leading to that bag having some kind of stasis field like actual registered balls do-- which I doubt, if you hadn’t noticed-- that’s just cruel and unusual.” 

The only sound for a few seconds was Calem’s heavy breathing, winded from talking so much and probably also  _ almost dying _ to save this girl’s Pokémon, which was just going to be abused. ...There seemed to be a lot of hesitation in this conversation, but then it kind of seemed like that’s the kind of girl Lillie was. 

“Sh-she doesn’t live there, like all the time,” Lillie finally managed. “J-just, I just keep her there when I need to, go out, and Professor Kukui is too busy to make sure she’s okay at the lab, or, or--” She finally stood up, and dusted off the hem of her dress, if unsuccessfully. “Hurting Nebby is the last thing I’d try to do…” 

Calem shrugged and crossed her arms, saying, “Just because you’re not  _ trying _ to hurt someone doesn’t mean you’re not doing so.” 

“I… guess that’s true,” Lillie responded. “Uh… well, still, thank you for saving Nebby. I-- I think the Pokémon that saved you after Nebby used her power left something? I’m guessing it was for you, since I’m… well, me,” she finished with a nervous chuckle, then gestured to the ground near Calem. 

There, Calem say, lay a shiny rock. The aspiring geologist in her was intrigued, even if something to add to her rock collection hadn’t exactly been at the front of her mind. On further inspection, though, it had some kind of rune engraved upon it-- hard to make it out, but more archaeologically than mineralogically speaking. 

After staring at it for a few moments, Calem gestured towards the path down. “C’mon, let’s get you home. Just because I’m a damn Murkrow when it comes to shiny things doesn’t mean you’re off the hook-- but… we can deal with that later, I’m too tired for this shit.” 

The walk down was silent. Awkward, probably, though Calem didn’t especially care at this point. She was somewhere in the vicinity of too fucking tired, a little shell shocked from nearly plummeting to her death, ashamed she’d snapped at the poor girl-- who was probably too young for Calem anyway, cute as hell but probably like fifteen or something, which added more guilt… and dealing with all these emotions still added up to Just Too Fucking Tired. 

At the bottom of the slope, though, Lillie finally spoke up-- but not to Calem. “Oh, Professor Kukui!” she called out, and scurried over to… a man in a Professor’s standard lab coat, certainly, but nothing else on his chest. “I’m sorry I left without saying anything,” Lillie continued, “You see, Nebby--” 

The Professor interrupted Lillie, but Calem was preoccupied with her own guilt for a moment. Another log for the fire, she supposed-- though she didn’t leave her previous Professor for a night without saying anything, and ‘wandered’ a full thirteen timezones away, now two months past. 

Eventually the conversation between the two turned, though, and Calem jumped to attention when she heard Lillie gesturing towards her. “I’m-- I’m sorry, I never actually asked what your name was?” 

“No problem, kiddo,” Calem said with a pasted-on grin. Not the time or place for this anxiety-guilt-downward-spiral bullshit. “I’m Calemine, Calem for short. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Professor.” She held out her hand, which he took and shook vigorously. 

“So,” he said, grinning at her, “I guess you were quite the hero back there, yeah? Haven’t seen you around here before, but with that kind of recommendation, I’d be more than happy to have you as a neighbor, cousin.” 

Calem blinked. “I’m, uh,” she started, and felt her lungs and her confidence deflate. “I’m no hero, really. Not what you’d call… reliable, I guess.” She tried to smile apologetically, but Calem felt like it was probably more of a grimace. “ _ Any _ way,” she added, “I just registered to be a Trainer here in Alola to do the-- uh, Trials I guess, since there’s no Gym Challenge here?-- and was told the Kahuna should be here and to get my first Pokémon tonight but I couldn’t find him and I was wondering if as the regional Professor maybe you could either just give me the Pokémon instead-- after checking paperwork of course-- or maybe find the guy, or lady, I don’t know, if that’s really necessary.” 

Somehow, Calem made it through that whole thing in one breath, but had to gulp air like it was going out of style afterward. 

Professor Kukui laughed deeply at that. Not meanly, just a belly laugh, and a good-natured slap on her back. “I’m sure old Hala’s around here somewhere,” he said, and gripped her shoulder to help direct her. 

At least she’d successfully changed the subject, anyway. 

As a group, the three of them asked a few folks-- well, mostly Kukui asked, honestly-- before Kukui turned around to say to Lillie, “Oh, I’m sorry. You can go ahead and head back to the lab if you want, it’s getting late.” 

But Lillie shook her head, “I’d, uh, actually like to see Calem get his first Pokémon-- if, if that’s okay?” 

“Don’t ask me,” Kukui said with a shrug, “ask them.” 

So Lillie turned to Calem and looked at her with those big, pleading eyes. Just a hint of pout, but less of the bratty variety than the admonished. Calem never really stood a chance. “Don’t-- don’t  _ do _ that, I probably wasn’t going to say ‘no’ anyway.” 

“S-sorry,” Lillie said, though she did smile a bit too. 

“Though can we at least find somewhere for Neb--” Calem started, but was interrupted by Kukui suddenly yelling to someone across the square, it sounded like. Which honestly kind of hurt her ears. 

On the other hand, it was apparently the very Kahuna they sought. 

“Where’d you get off to, Kahuna?” Kukui asked, in a more reasonable volume this time. “You were the one who called to meet me here, yeah?” 

The old man nodded as he approached. “Yes, and I’m sorry to have made you wait. Duty called, and a Tauros on the rampage seemed more time-sensitive than meeting with a new Trial-Goer. It’s not how I’d like to start things with you, Calem,” he turned to her as he said her name, “but even I’m still human.” 

Calem shrugged. She’d nearly  _ died  _ because he was late, but then that Lillie’s poor Gastly probably would have died had Calem not-- ...well, no, that other Pokémon had to rescue both of them. 

When it was clear that Calem wasn’t going to respond further, the old man nodded his head and drew an elongated oval in the air with his fingers, and said, “Alola, Calem, prospective Trial-Goer. I am Kahuna Hala, and I shall have the honor of presenting you with your first Pokémon Partner.” 

That got a snort from Calem. “Not, uh. Not quite. I’ve gone through…” Calem was reminded of the parallel to this very conversation she had less than a year ago in Vaniville town, or outside of Santalune, or something. “Well, several Regions’ Major Leagues, and Little Leagues when I was too young to have even the child trainer’s permit, even if those Pokémon were closer to pets than battle partners.” 

Hala raised a bushy white eyebrow at that. “I see. I suppose that’s for the best. I’d hate to have ruined a Trainer’s first day, but little else could be done.” He took a moment, then looked up at the sky. “And I thought I saw Tapu Koko flying about earlier, so something else may yet happen that needs my attention.”

“Oh, uh,” Lillie cut in, “I mean I guess there might be more but I think he came out because of--” She looked around a bit fearfully, then walked closer to the Kahuna and lowered her voice to continue. “Nebby was being attacked,” she said, “by Spearow. Calem went to protect her, but the bridge broke, and Nebby got to the other edge but Calem fell and he saved her then brought Nebby back and I was so scared I didn’t know what to do,” she said, nearly hyperventilating by the end of her ramble. 

The Kahuna crossed his arms and nodded, eyebrows high. “It sounds like you’ve had quite an adventure, young Calem, and have been favored by a Tapu besides.” 

At which point a few things clicked for Calemine. The more elaborate body shape than most Pokémon sported, especially one as fancy and ceremonial-looking as this one’s; the need to swoop in and save a random person; leaving a gift then disappearing mysteriously, all too much like the old fairy-stories and fantasies Calem had heard as a child; and left towards the ruins that the one kid had mentioned as the home of ‘the Tapu’ before all this. 

“Are you telling me,” Calem said with not a little disbelief, “that  _ that  _ was an Arceus-damned Legendary fucking Pokémon.” 

Lillie gasped and Kukui gave her a harsh look--for the foul language Calem assumed, but they waited for the Kahuna to respond. For a moment, Hala thought, scrunching his mouth to one side and scratching at his chin. “I can see why it might be classed that way, to someone more familiar with the League’s standards of classifications. But here, we just revere it as the guardian and protector of the island.” 

“‘Kay,” Calem said, turning on her heel, “Nevermind, I’m out. I don’t need this,” and she started to walk away.

“Wh-what do you mean you’re  _ ‘out’ _ ?” Lillie asked, causing Calem to look back. 

What could Calem say? They were all looking at her expectantly, so Calem didn’t bother with the mental filter. “As of this past winter, I’m now in the has-seen-a-Legendary-doing-it’s-thing club, and also the had-to-help-stop-an-evil-Team-doing- _ its- _ thing club. And part of that was watching a--” Apparently enough of her mental filter was still there to prevent herself from saying that Lysandre had been Professor Sycamore’s long time boyfriend, and thus the boyfriend-of-her-boyfriend (if for all of three days), but what  _ could _ she call him? On the other hand, they didn’t need to know any of the personal details. 

Not that Calem could even describe the feeling in her gut every time she pictured Lysandre, having been beaten by Serena’s Pokémon team and her newly-caught Yveltal, the Legend that he himself had summoned-- beaten, but not beaten down. Angry enough to destroy the base when he lost, broken enough that he saw no reason to live once his plans had been wholly foiled. Just staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the death he’d caused, he’d tried to cause for the whole world. 

Calem blinked, and realized she’d stopped cold in the middle of a sentence and that the other three had been waiting some moments for her to continue. “It, uh. Wasn’t fun. So excuse me if I don’t want to be involved with any more of them.” 

“Calem, cuz,” Professor Kukui said, “that’s all in the past, yeah? Obviously I don’t know what you went through, but Tapu Koko interacts with us Melemele Islanders more than other Regions’ deities, certainly more than Kanto’s birds. Never saw hide nor hair--feather?-- of them while I was there, you know?” 

The Kahuna nodded his agreement. “Just because the Tapu has favored you, doesn’t mean it shall continue to interact with you. It’s more of a good omen than anything else.” 

Calem raised her eyebrow and scowled at that, but had no room to disagree. 

“That’s.. Pretty reasonable, I guess,” Lillie said. “Though if you had had a Pokémon that knew how to battle, you probably wouldn’t have had to run into the Spearow yourself, so… there’s also that?” 

With a huff, Calem crossed her arms and continued to scowl. And yet, her response was, “I suppose meeting this Tapu hasn’t actually changed any of the reasons I applied to be a Trial-Goer here, in the first place. Thanks for reminding me of that, I guess?” She shrugged. “So, with my dramatic ass out of the way, I guess I’m ready to get my starter.” 

“It’s not quite as simple as you might be expecting, yeah?” Professor Kukui said. “In Alola, there are your three typical options, the Pokémon must also accept you as their trainer. It’s rare for a Pokémon to reject their potential trainer, but it does happen.”

The Kahuna nodded. “Additionally, we’re waiting for one more person, another Trial Goer who is older than most children are when they attempt this.” Hala looked down at his wrist, and said, “I thought he’d be here before me, honestly, he was so excited…” 

“I thought I saw Hau here earlier, just before Nebby escaped and ran up the Mahalo Trail,” Lillie said. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but he’s probably around here somewhere? Your house is around here, isn’t it, Kahuna? Maybe he stopped in there for something.” 

Again, Hala nodded. “Wise thought, Lillie. I’ll see if I can’t fetch him,” and went into the largest house around the square. 

After watching the old man go, Calem said, “So folks can just walk into the Kahuna’s house whenever they like? Sounds like a rough gig.” 

Lillie giggled at that. “No, ah, Hau is Kahuna Hala’s grandson.”

The professor added, “Hau and his mom live in their own house, but as family are welcome any time of the day or night in Hala’s home. Though, Hala’s the pretty generous sort, yeah? I don’t think I’ve ever heard him turn a guest away. That’s just who he is, though.” Kukui looked to one side, lifting his chin a bit as he did so, and scratched it pensively. “From what I hear of Ula’Ula’s new Kahuna, I doubt he’d be so welcoming.” 

Something about the last sentence didn’t sit right with Calem, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. It didn’t matter anyway, as Hala emerged from his house followed by-- the same boy who’d given Calem instructions earlier. 

“Oh, hey, it’s you from earlier!” Hau echoed Calem’s thoughts. “You’re my rival, then? Whoo!” He pumped his fist into the air and yelled happily, which earned him admonishments from Hala about the time of night. Looking at her watch, Calem realized that everything had taken so long now that it was a little after midnight. Wow. 

But finally, they were headed towards the wooden stage in the middle of the town’s… well, Calem had been thinking of it as a square, but it was very much shaped like a circle. Still, she was used to thinking of things as The Town Square. Regardless, Hala released three Pokémon on to the stage. “Do either of you have a preference as to who chooses first?” 

Calem shook her head no, figuring that maybe, in this region, she’d break her Grass-starter-streak and diversify. 

However, as she approached the stage to see them better, all three Pokémon reacted strongly. The centrally placed black-and-red cat’s fur stood on end as it arched its spine, swatted its paw in Calem’s direction, and she even thought she could hear it hiss. To the right side of the stage, the blue seal’s eyes went wide for a moment, then hid its face under its paw-flippers, making a small whimpering noise. The round owl in the middle position hooted and fluttered backward suddenly, but once it was settled it just stared at Calem with its large eyes. It… probably cocked its head, it was hard to tell with its fluffy feathers--its face tilted to one side as it considered her, at any rate. 

Hau had run to comfort the poor seal before anyone else could react; next in the order of initiative was the owl, who waddled back up to Calem, and stretched its wing in her direction. 

“Well, that’s a new one,” Professor Kukui said. “Did you mix up your cologne and a Super Repel this morning, Calem?” 

Calem shrugged. “I… guess I must have?” She  _ had  _ been going through Repels to keep her relatively safe while ‘urban camping,’ and had had no reason to intentionally interact with Pokémon for a while. She must have overdone it a bit.

“Then shouldn’t the Spe--” Lillie started to say.

“I suppose that’s it, then” Hala said at the same time, then, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. You were saying, Lillie?” 

The poor girl just shook her head and waved for Hala to continue, so he did. “It seems like the best Pokémon and Trainer matches have been made. It’s too late for you to actually  _ leave _ on your journey tonight now, though. Calem, where will you be sleeping?” 

Gesturing with her passport, Calem said, “Now that I’m an actual Trainer here, I’ll start using the Pokémon center facilities again.” 

“Nonsense!” Hala said. “My home has plenty of room for guests. You’ll be staying with me for the night.” 

At this, Hau gasped. “Oh! I wanna stay too. It’ll be like… a friend-rivals sleep over. How about it?” He looked hopefully up at Calem-- he was a little shorter that she was, if not by all that much. It was awfully adorable, in a way that reminded Calem of an over-eager Lillipup. 

So she laughed, and said, “Sure, kid. We’ll eat pizza rolls and watch bad movies all night, and then we won’t want to get up until noon. Great plan.” Still, she was grinning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since this chapter is detailing the beginning of the actual game, and US/UM is also having a midnight release, I thought it appropriate to upload this now. I'm behind on my wordcount for NaNo but I'm kind of glad it lined up this way. 
> 
> Anyway, cheers


	3. Sleepover

Somehow, Lillie ended up getting roped into the impromptu sleepover as well. “It’ll be good for you, to spend time with some folks your own age, yeah?” Kukui had said with a laugh.

So a little parade filed into Hala’s house, led by the Kahuna himself, though Hau split off as soon as they were in the door and gestured for Calem and Lillie to follow. “I hang out here a lot,” he said, “though not usually with friends! Man, this is gonna be great.”

Calem shrugged, and then realized that Hau, being in front of her, couldn’t exactly see her gesture. “It’s a little early to be calling us ‘friends,’ isn’t it?” she asked. “I’m not exactly--” Reliable, friendly, warm, funny, smart, or any number of other things, but no one wanted to hear her whine, whine, _whine_ all night.

“You’re not what?” Lillie’s voice came from behind Calem.

“I’m not, ah,” Calem said, trying to figure out where she’d been trying to go with that in the first place. “...a great traveling companion,” she finally picked. It was the most relevant. “I kind of just keep ploughing through all challenges, regardless of how my acquaintances are dealing with them.”

Hau stopped and looked at Calem then. “That’s not really the Alolan way of doing things, but if you wanna rush in, I guess I’ll just have to work that much harder to catch up to you!” Then he opened the door and Calem realized he had only stopped because they’d arrived.

The room was cozy, and clearly only used for Hau and potentially the odd other guest, though with as large as the house was, Calem wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that there were multiple guest rooms. This one had a wall-mounted TV with a Nintendo Switch hooked up, a large beanbag chair that was actually vaguely chair-shaped, a mini fridge and microwave, and a bunk bed-- there were stuffed Pokémon and some other junk on the bottom bunk, which Hau cleared off with a sweeping motion. “Someone’s gonna have to double up, or sleep on the ground. I don’t mind if you girls want the beds, I’m probably gonna need to get used to a sleeping bag anyway!”

Calem waved dismissively, saying, “First of all, this is the first time I’ll have slept under a roof since I’ve been in Alola, so I probably mind the floor the least of the three of us. Two, unless Pokémon Centers are few and far between in Alola, you can probably make it from one to the next in the space of a day. Sure, you’ll have the odd cave or forest or what-have-you that will be longer than you expected, and you’ll need to rough it for a day, maybe two, but I can’t imagine civilization being further away than that. Or is it farther? Which one is distance again?”

The two kids blinked, before Hau said, “Wait, are you homeless?”

At which Calem sighed. “I was trying to distract you from that,” she said. “But yes, I ran-- well, I didn’t exactly plan on moving so much as I just left.” Calem sat on the now-cleared lower bunk, and shrugged dramatically, making a sweeping motion with her arms as well as the shoulders-- a habit she picked up from her ex-Professor Sycamore. “I was a dumbass and didn’t realize I hadn’t lost my passport, so much as just buried it under everything else in my bag, or else I’d have been in the Center this whole time.”

Hau sat down beside her heavily. “Dang, that sucks,” and Calem had to laugh at his bluntness. “Well,” he continued, “you’re here now, and that’s what matters! Do either of you like Mario Kart?” Hau held up the game’s box and waggled it enticingly.

“It’s been _so_ many years since I’ve really had the chance to play,” Calem said. “Not that I wouldn’t love to play again, but I’ll be rusty as hell. You, Lillie?” Calem turned to the other girl, who hadn’t said anything for a while, or even sat down.

She shook her head. “I, ah, haven’t really played that kind of game before.”

Both Hau’s and Calem’s eyes lit up at this. “Oh, you’ve _got_ to play it now, then,” Calem said. “I’ll make the snacks while you two race.”

Lillie was surprisingly good, it turned out. “Oh, I’ve played a racing game before,” she said, “but mother would never buy anything that wasn’t also educational. This is… a lot harder than Mathletes, even if I don’t need to remember what eighteen times five is before hitting the box-things.”

It also turned out that Calem was either very good at guessing, or junk food habits hadn’t changed much since she started traveling years ago, and stopped having so many lazy days. “Actual pizza rolls,” she said to no one in particular. “Well I’ll be damned. And bagel bites, too, and cheese sticks… Hau, I have to ask: have you ever seen a vegetable.”

“Of course I have!” he said, not looking away from the screen. “I think there’s some onion rings in there, too.”

“Bleh,” Calem stuck her tongue out at the thought. “Frozen onion rings are the worst. Bagel bites it is.”

After the current track was finished-- Lillie lost, but only barely this time around-- she asked, “Calem, if you don’t mind my asking, why did you come here?”

Blinking, Calem asked, “What, like to the sleepover, or Alola in general, or…?”

Lillie looked away and shrugged her shoulders. “Yes?”

“Clearly she’s here because my party’s too bomb to pass up,” Hau said.

Gesturing to the plate of pizza rolls, Calem said, “Oh, just impossible to pass this up.” ...It was said with a dripping sense of sarcasm, but as she bit into another marinara-filled morsel, she became aware just how close to the truth her joke was.

“And Alola?” Lillie prompted, apparently accepting the previous answer at face value.

To give herself another moment to think, Calem chose and ate a bagel bite, and chewed carefully. Eventually she had an answer, though, so she swallowed. “I needed to get away, and when I saw that Alola was the destination of the soonest ocean liner departure, it kind of felt like fate. I’d been here just last winter on my birthday, and was born here besides.” Calem gestured to her arm, and said, “Given that I’m pale as fuck, I’m clearly not like, native or anything, just a military brat whose dad was stationed here. Still, it… feels like home.”

Lillie and Hau both nodded. “It feels like home for me too, cuz,” he said, “but then I guess it’s pretty much all I’ve known. My dad’s always traveled a lot, used to bring back stories of other places. It sure sounded fun, but I dunno, I’ve never really wanted to leave Alola, you know?”

Calem shook her head. “Can’t say I do. I mean, I _might_ end up staying in Alola, but my history tells a different tale. I thought I’d stay in Kalos for a while but... here I am anyway.” She grinned ruefully.

Lillie said, “I haven’t really had much choice, until… well, I had to get away, too.” She looked away, the wide brim of her hat hiding her face, and didn’t say any more than that. Calem was at a loss as to how to even respond.

Hau seemed to have the right idea, though, when he said, “More Mario Kart? Or is it time for a movie instead?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d actually like to meet your Pokémon,” Lillie said. “I’m… not always the best at dealing with Pokémon battling, but I love knowing them.”

Calem shrugged and released her Rowlet, but Hau just put his hand behind his head and grinned a little lop-sidedly. “I mean, I don’t know how well my Popplio will deal with all of us crowded in here,” he said, “since he was so upset with everyone at the stage and all.”

“O-oh,” Lillie said, “I suppose that’s a good point. I wouldn’t want to upset-- you said ‘him’?”

Hau nodded, then, and said, “Yeah, my dex said he was a guy. How about you, Calem? What’s your Rowlet? And do you have a name, yet?”

Calem ruffled the feathers on her Rowlet’s head, and said, “I don’t have an Alolan Pokédex yet, and I didn’t bring any of my old ones with me-- though I don’t know if any of them could have handled the different Pokémon here without an update, anyway.” Calem scooted off the bed so that she could scoop the round bird into her lap, even if he wiggled and protested a bit. Or at least-- “It’s probably a safe bet to say that this one’s a ‘he,’ though,” Calem continued, “going by every other regions’ gender distribution statistics for their starters.”

Hau looked a little lost, but Lillie said, “Oh, I didn’t realize there was a trend with that.”

“Yeah,” Calem said. “Anyway, I don’t know a whole lot of stuff about most of the Pokémon native to Alola, but I did look up the final forms these--” and she gestured towards the owl-- “all took, and while I was considering maybe choosing the water-type this go-around because Primarina is beautiful, I really do love the whole aesthetic of Decidueye, even more than I usually like the final stage of the Grass-Type Starter.” Calem paused for breath, and to reroute her mental train of thought before finishing, “So once I can do so officially, I’m gonna name him Oliver.”

“Oh, that’s a nice name,” Lillie said, smiling softly.

Hau grinned, and agreed, “It feels a little weird to me to name a Pokémon with a people-name, but I think it works!”

Looking to the side, Calem said, “Well, I mean, it’s for olive the color and olive the plant, but also because the whole archer thing of Decidueye and Oliver Queen the Green Arrow.”

“I don’t know what that is, I’ll admit,” Lillie said, “but I’m glad that you could think of something that means so many things to you.”

Calem chuckled then asked, “So how about you two, then? What’ll your Popplio’s name be, and any reason you picked-- hey, where _is_ Nebby, actually?”

Lillie looked to her indeed empty bag, and her eyes widened. “Oh, not again,” she said and got up from the chair she’d dragged in from another room, and started looking. “I hope she hasn’t gotten outside…”

Hau and Calem got up to look too, and the former said, “I think I’m just going to name my Popplio ‘Poppy’. I know he’s going to evolve and it won’t be the same anymore, but I just like it, I guess!”

Calem nodded and agreed that it was nice. She’d have used ‘poppy’ on a Grass type of some sort, probably something she liked to use Sleep Powder or Spore on, but then, it wasn’t her Pokémon. As she was checking in the closet, it occurred to her, “Actually, Hau, I think it might have just been _me_ that your Popplio didn’t like, right? They seemed fine until I approached.”

Hau shook his head and said, “Nah, I doubt it,” as he started climbing the ladder to the upper bunk. “Maybe you startled him though, so I guess we can try-- ahah!” He interrupted himself with a cry as he found Nebby among the stuffed Pokémon still living in the upper bunk.

“Oh, _you_ ,” Lillie said as Hau shepherded the small Pokémon towards her. “What will I ever do with you.”

Watching Lillie put Nebby back in the bag, Calem asked, “Say, why do you keep him in that bag, anyway? Even if you don’t like to battle, why not just register as one to keep Nebby in his ball?”

Lillie shook her head. “She’s pretty… special, and I’m trying to help her find her way home as well as protect her. But registering... “ Lillie shook her head with a grimace. “The Professors have been helping me a lot, but I can’t really trust any public system with my information. I’m… I _had_ to go, and I just _can’t_ go back.”

“Oooh, ouch,” Calem said. Something between witness protection and foster care it sounded like, even if Lillie looked too old to be in foster care to begin with.

A moment later, Hau said, “Well, I mean-- everyone here already knows what Nebby looks like, right? I promise I won’t say anything to anyone if you just let Nebby run around here for tonight.”

Lillie blinked, then smiled. “I guess you’re right!” she said, and opened her duffel. “Come on out of the bag, Nebby,” she said. “Just don’t go too far, okay?”

With a happy little trill, Nebby floated up, orbited around Lillie’s head for a moment, then zipped off to inspect the room, now that she didn’t need to hide.

“Would you mind letting me meet Poppy again, then?” Calem asked Hau as they all started to settle back down. “If she’s still uncomfortable around me that’s fine, I’d just… I dunno, I hate getting off on the wrong foot with anyone.” Didn’t stop her from _doing_ that pretty much all of the time, but she did what she could to remedy it.

Nodding, Hau said, “Yeah, sure. Hey Popplio, come on out, dude.” Hau then released his Pokémon on the bed between himself and the now snoozing Rowlet, across the room from where Calem leaned against a dresser.

The Popplio stretched his flippers and leaned against the Rowlet comfortably, and waved hello at Hau. He seemed very relaxed compared to earlier, even before Hau started petting him and whispering soothingly.

Lillie came over slowly to say hello, and once Nebby noticed something going on, she did too. The little sea lion seemed to love the attention as he barked happily and rolled around surrounded by the humans and Pokémon.

That was, until Calem walked over towards him. He barked again, this time sharper with a hint of alarm, and scooted himself backwards toward the back end of the bunk.

Raising her hands, Calem backed away. “All right, I know when I’m not wanted,” she said. “Guess this one has an especially strong sense for my aura of assholery, eh?”

Lillie shook her head. “I don’t know what has Popplio so upset, but I’m sure it’s not for dislike of you, Calem,” she said. “You’re very brave and helpful, even if-- a little sharp, I guess, but you had some good points… Someone who would risk his life for someone else’s Pokémon isn’t what I’d call a-- an-- well, that kind of an insult.”

Calem chuckled at Lillie’s difficulty with cursing, and remembered her gasp earlier as she took Arceus’ name in vain. Poor sheltered girl. “Thanks, but two things: one, you’ll probably figure out you’re wrong soon enough about me being a jerk; and two, I’m actually a girl.” She paused, and amended, “Young woman? Lady? I dunno.”

Lillie’s face turned red as she stammered, “O-oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“Nah, don’t sweat it,” Calem interrupted. “I’m butch as hell--” she flexed for emphasis, and while she wasn’t ‘ripped’ or anything, was still proud of her muscle tone-- “and at least you didn’t have any reason to have _known_ I was a girl, or anything, unlike my previous Professor. Took him literal months, _and_ he had my official paperwork and everything.”

Both Hau and Lillie chuckled at that, and the latter didn’t seem so tense, thankfully.

They chattered for a bit longer, before eventually putting on a movie. No one could decide on anything specific they wanted to see, so Hau picked one at random from his stack of DVDs in the corner-- it was a little weird that folks even still had DVDs, with how much was available digitally these days, but then again Calem hadn’t kept nonessentials with her for some years now.

The physical copy gave Calem the chance to see the cover before Hau popped open the case-- four boys walking down railroad tracks. “Hey-- anything but that, if you don’t mind?” she said, gesturing towards the case. “When I lived in Sinnoh, this -- Stand By Me -- was pretty new, and getting things in Ingrish while overseas was a lot harder than now and I’ve seen just about enough of that movie for _several_ lifetimes.”

Hau blinked, then laughed loudly. “No problem, cuz!” What he eventually put on was a Disney musical like what Cale had grown up with, but one she hadn’t seen yet. It was nice, or at least what she saw of it was-- she’d fallen asleep before it ended.


	4. Hau'oli

Unsurprisingly, Route 1 wasn’t very notable for Calemine. She caught several Pokémon, the typical birds and bugs and rodents that were almost always the most common fodder around where new trainers were ushered off to their journeys for any particular region. 

A nice new touch was that when Calem got to the Professor’s… she hesitated to call it a lab, honestly, but where he lived and also did his Pokémon Move Hands-On Research-- he told her that her and Hau’s Pokédexes were special: a new model that could house a Rotom. 

“Hiya there!” the Pokémon said, once inside the device. “Can’t wait to set off with you on the journey!” 

It was a little weird to be talking to her Pokédex, but the machine floated on its own, had definite eyes that had only lit up when the ghost possessed it, lightning bolt ‘arms’ to each side, and even a digital mouth on the screen. Eventually, she said, “Hi yourself. Do, uh… do all Rotom talk?” 

The Pokédex laughed, a weird tinny sound emanating from its speakers while its digital mouth smiled and eyes approximated an amused squint. “If we possessed a set of speakers, probably, but your average appliance that we Rotom like don’t tend to have that ability, no. This boy’s too chatty to want  _ that _ , though!” 

“Fair,” Calem said. “Since you can talk to me yourself, is there anything you’d like me to call you?” 

The Rotomdex put the tip of his mechanical arm to approximately his chin and grimaced in thought. Eventually, he said, “Carlo. That’s my name.” 

Nodding, Calem said, “Carlo it is! So, onwards?” 

“Onwards!” 

  
  


As it turned out, Oliver was, indeed, male. If he had been a girl instead, Calem wasn’t sure whether she would have named the owl Oliver anyway, or maybe Olivia, or something else entirely-- maybe like Mirkwood, wasn’t that where Legolas came from? Or something of the sort. But it was pointless to speculate on hypotheticals, and Oliver was a great name for what looked to be a great companion. 

The Yungoos she’d caught and named Richard was actually a girl. Oh well, the Dick Gumshoe pun still worked with the Gumshoos she would eventually evolve into. Pearl the Pikipek was female, though the feathers would have reminded Calem of the cartoon character regardless of the bird’s actual gender, but it was still fitting. Bugsy, the gym leader, was fairly androgynous, but it worked out well that the Grubbin Calem had named after him was also male. 

It was while speculating on all of these things that Calem nearly bumped into Professor Kukui, who was waiting for her on the road out of the Route 1 area towards Hau’oli. “Alola, cousin!” he said. “Mind helping me out at the Trainer’s School for a minute? Usually, I have Trial Goers take one last lesson here before they ship off, but you and Hau are old enough that I think you’d be able to teach these kids a thing or two, yeah?” 

Calem considered. “All right,” she said. “Anything in particular you’d like me to do?” 

Kukui answered, “Battle a few of the kids-- don’t intentionally lose or anything, yeah, but give them advice as you battle. Hau will be doing something different, but from what you’ve been saying it sounds like you have some experience under your belt.” 

“Just a bit,” Calem said and chuckled. “I’ve only been doing this for, oh, maybe ten years now.” 

So Calem went in and talked to the teacher, and started to battle some of the students. “You’ve got a type advantage, press it if you can!” she said at one point, though the kid had taken long enough to do that, that Calem managed to knock out his Pokémon anyway. Another, she said, “Mimic is a tough move to use reliably-- you have to predict what your opponent is going to do; until you’ve mastered that, maybe use something more straight-forward.” 

It was an interesting exercise, though Calem wasn’t sure how much help she was-- her competitive spirit apparently held true even against literal school children. She didn’t just not throw the matches, she only even let one of her Pokémon faint by mistake, her Yungoos, vs one kid’s Grimer. In the same patch of grass, she caught one of these Alolan Grimer for herself, given how handily it had managed to take out the little mongoose thing. 

*** One of the teachers approached Calem after she’d battled several of the kids-- or at least, Calem thought this pink-haired person was a teacher, though she hadn’t noticed them before. “You’re quite good at handling your Pokémon,” they said, and grinned. “Your teaching skills may leave a little to be desired, but then, you’re not applying to be a teacher, just a trainer.” 

Calem grimaced at that. “I-- I mean, eventually I’d love to be a Professor, actually, so…” 

The teacher blinked. “Ah. Apologies, then, though I would work on your bedside manner if you continue down that path. But for now, I’d love to battle you at some point.” 

Shrugging, Calem said, “Sure, why not. My party’s a little tired, let me just--” 

The person shook their head. “No, not now, I’ve got to finish up looking after these little ones, and then have other business to attend to. Tomorrow I’ll be free, and likely wandering in Hau’oli, so if I see you there, perhaps then. Is that all right?” 

Calem shrugged. “Sure, why not. Always up for the experience and all that. If that’s all--” she paused and allowed the teacher to say something if he wanted, but he remained silent. “Smell ya later, then.” 

As Calem left the school and headed towards the Pokémon Center next to it, she pondered her plan. If she was being honest, that pink-haired bitch had gotten on her nerves, and now that the possibility of a battle floated over Calem’s head, she wanted to wipe that smile off their face. ...Her? His? Calem realized she hadn’t gotten the person’s name, or pronouns, nor could she guess what they were. Regardless, Calem couldn’t very well prove this asshat wrong by being better at teaching just at the moment, but what she  _ could _ do was wipe the pavement with his-or-her party. 

Suddenly, a voice cut through Calem’s thoughts. “Miss Calemine, Ma’am?” the nurse behind the counter in the Pokémon center said. Her voice sounded serious, face scrunched. 

“Yeah, what’s… what’s up?” Calem answered as she approached the counter. 

The nurse leaned in and said in a low voice, “While most of your party is fit and ready to go again, I must inform you that your Yungoos is dead, and was before she arrived. Is there anything you need to tell us?” 

Calem blinked. “I… what?” Then she shook her head. “No, that-- it was just a schoolyard battle, she shouldn’t be-- she can’t be dead.” 

The nurse took a deep breath. “These things sometimes happen,” she said, “and I’m sorry that it’s happened to you.” She then handed the tray of Pokéballs back to Calem-- now missing one. The trainer took her balls and nodded, struck dumb by the shock. 

  
  


Kahuna Hala had Calem pet an irritated Tauros to help calm it down, and Hau showed her into the tourist bureau. *** She followed without saying much, still processing that her journey here started with one of her Pokémon  _ dying _ . It wasn’t the first time she’d had it happen-- but out of her eleven official years of being a Trainer, and the play-battles before her tenth birthday, the only other time she’d had to face this was when her Talonflame, Femme Fatale, had switched into a [rock type entry hazard elephant] and then taken a Critical Hit from a Stone Edge. It had been a poor decision, but it was the only other flying Pokémon Calem had had left in a Sky Battle against a trainer with an Aerodactyl, of all things. While it was upsetting, Calem understood why it would cause such huge damage to the poor thing; this, however, was just… even less than she was used to, a kid-gloves schoolyard battle. 

That said, there  _ was _ supposed to be a glitch that some Pokéballs got where they didn’t automatically withdraw a Pokémon at the pre-determined threshold of health to keep it alive. It was rarer to encounter this than to be in an airplane crash, but… well, statistically speaking, it had to happen to  _ someone _ . At least it was her, and not a ten year old kid, she guessed. 

“Ma’am?” the lady behind the counter asked, and Calem was brought back to the present. “If you’ll hand over your Rotomdex?” 

“Right, yeah, of course,” Calem said unenthusiastically, and pushed the little guy in the receptionist’s direction. She took him by one arm-paddle and gently slotted something in to a gap behind his ‘head’, and said, “All set! You can now take beautiful pictures with the PokéFinder capability. Enjoy your stay in Alola!” 

Grinning a bit, Calem managed a bit of her usual snark-- “I hope this thing takes ugly ones too, because that’s all I can do.” 

The receptionist shrugged and gave a polite smile. All right, so maybe Calem’s humor was still a bit off. 

“Isn’t that great, Calem?” Hau said. “I got mine yesterday afternoon, as soon as I got the ‘Dex herself from Kukui. I even have a few pictures already, too!” 

Hau showed Calem the photos he’d taken of the lot right outside the tourist bureau building, apparently, and off the beach a bit to the south. They seemed to be pretty cute examples of wild Pokémon going about their business, and Calem had to smile at the photos and Hau’s enthusiasm in general. 

When they walked out of the building, Lillie was standing there. “Oh, hello again,” she said. “I was hoping to find you,” she said and walked towards the two trainers. 

Before she could continue, Carlo popped up from Calem’s side, said, “Hey there! Say cheese!” The three reflexively looked up, and the Rotomdex snapped a picture of the three.  “A souvenir for the start of your adventure! They do say ‘take a picture, it’ll last longer’!” 

Calem laughed and waved a hand dismissively at him and said, “You’re going to make a habit of this, aren’t you?” 

“Photos? Not unless you tell me to, kid,” Carlo replied, *** “but you can bet your diodes I’ll be chatting to you about this, that, and everything.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Calem said as the ‘Dex floated back to Calem’s side. “Anyway, Lillie, what was it you wanted?” 

The girl startled, and said, “Oh, um. I was in the city doing some errands for the Professor anyway, and I stopped in to the boutique over there to look around… I-- I still just wear what my mother always dressed me in, I don’t have the nerve to wear anything else, but I like to look. I didn’t even buy anything, but I guess I was the nine-hundred, ninety-nine thousand, nine-hundred-and-ninety-ninth customer in the store, and they gave me these…” Lillie took out a case with a set of eyes printed on it, and a nice makeup set. “I already have them, though, so I was wondering if you wanted them?” 

Calem took the proffered items and looked at them more closely-- the eye case had colored contacts inside, apparently reusable; the palette had foundation, eyeshadow, blush… and more that Calemine couldn’t really place. “Thanks, Lillie,” Calem said, handing them back, “but I wouldn’t have much use for them, either. Eyes can’t deal with contacts and I just… don’t really do the makeup thing, never really have.” 

“I… see,” Lillie said. “Okay, I’m sorry.” 

Shaking her head, Calem said, “Nah, don’t be. I’d just look like I was in drag, anyway. But  _ you, _ I’m sure you’d look even cuter than you already do, all dolled up. If nothing else, I’m sure this will still be fine once yours runs out, or whatever, right?” 

Lillie nodded slowly. “Yeah, I just thought… I don’t know, y-you seemed so upset yesterday, I was just-- I’m not very good at this, ah, being friends business… I’m sorry.” 

Suddenly, Hau said, “Gifts is good for being friends, but you know what’s better?” The girls looked at him, and he answered himself, “Malasadas!” 

“Malasadas?” Calem echoed.

Lillie shook her head, saying, “I don’t know what those are, either.” 

At this, Hau gasped. “You guys haven’t had  _ malasadas _ !? Wow, I… Not one, but  _ two _ people I get to be with when they have them for the first time! Come on, come on!” Hau took a hand of both Lillie’s and Calem’s and tugged both of them along the streets, taking turns without pausing to look around beyond not running face-first into people, apparently well aware of where he was going. 

Calem could have easily pulled her hand back, but found it hard to resist Hau’s persistent optimism, and nearly laughed at the bewildered look on Lillie’s face. 

Not very much later, they arrived at a bakery-- Slurpuff Pastries, apparently. *** It smelled decadent, sugar and dough and other scents wafting out from the building, inviting anyone with a nose to come inside and eat. <*> When they got inside, it became apparent that while there were other things that Calem recognized-- doughnuts and crullers and *** other doughnut-like things, not to mention cookies and a few cupcake and brownies, and even the odd macaron, the shop’s specialty was malasadas. Half of the display cases were filled with them, from ‘traditional’ which seemed to be a round pastry covered in sugar, about the size of a non-Pokémonic chicken’s egg, something you could probably roll the dough for in your palm. Others had different toppings or glazes, much like the doughnuts that Calem was used to, and still others had little signs indicating they had various fillings, from cream to jellies to chocolate sauce, and even red bean-- odd for the region, but very good from what Calem remembered of her time in Sinnoh-- and chili paste. 

Another display to the side housed what was labeled a Big Malasada-- this pastry looked like the Traditional ones in the central display, but approximately the size of a Torchic egg, probably. If not, at least  _ some _ variety of Pokémon’s egg. The sign below it read, “Buy one to go, enjoy it with friends, family, your Pokémon-- or even all three!” 

Calem laughed at that, and then turned to ask Hau, “So, there’s a lot of selection here. Any recommendations?” 

Shrugging, Hau responded, “Do you like sweet things, or spicy ones, or what? Just go with whatever sounds good to start with, you know?” Then he grinned and rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed, and added, “I mean, I like them all, so I’m not really good at singling anything out.” 

So Calem ordered the traditional malasada, to see what the ‘base’ flavor was like, and the chili-paste one, and a few of the glazed. Lillie got three traditionals, and Hau asked for “Whatever you have that’s day old, and a Cheri Berry Jam one, please!” There was also a coffeepot behind the counter, and apparently coffee was sold for a hundred Pen a cup with unlimited refills, so Calem got that too. 

Then they sat down at a booth to eat, then, and Hau dug into his with gusto, not bothering to wipe the sugary dust off his face. Lillie was much more careful, even going as far as using the plastic fork and knife she’d grabbed to cut the pastries into bite-sized pieces. 

Calem chose a middle path, going ahead and eating her malasadas with her fingers, but trying to keep her face free of sugary debris. The chili one was a little too spicy for Calem’s taste after all, and pushed the remnants of it to the side of her plate. 

After Hau had eaten several of his malasadas, he leaned over and let Poppy out into the booth next to him. “Hey, bud,” he said to the Pokémon, “you want any of this? Sorry there’s not much left, I kinda… forgot until just now that these are Pokémon safe.” The sea lion smiled and placed his flippers on the edge of the table and dug right into the pastries. 

“Oh, are they?” Lillie asked. “I suppose I’ll have to buy some more of these to bring to Nebby later.” 

“Speaking of,” Calem said, “where is-- I forget, was your Nebby a ‘he’ or a ‘she’?” Gastly didn’t have any big gender differences to tell them apart-- or at least, the Kantonian Gastly that Calem was familiar with; as far as she knew, Alolan Forms didn’t  _ also _ have gender differences where their Kantonian cousins did not, but maybe? Regardless, there were no obvious clues to remind Calem which pronouns to use for the girl’s-- pet? Technically it was still a Pokémon, but in saying “someone’s Pokémon,” it was assumed the person was at least registered as a Trainer, somehow or other. 

“I don’t know for sure,” Lillie said, and broke Calem’s reverie, “but I’ve always gotten the sense that Nebby is a girl. I can’t… really explain it.” 

Given the masculine feeling Calem had gotten from Tapu Koko-- even if it turned out he was a legendary-- Calem couldn’t fault the girl’s logic. “Fair enough,” Calem said. “So you have your duffel today, but it’s actually filled with  _ things _ , not antsy Pokémon. I hope this doesn’t mean she got out again…?” 

Lillie shook her head. “No, no. Professor Kukui is watching her for today. He always does his research inside-- I don’t know  _ why _ , if he’s going to have Pokémon use moves on him why he can’t at least step outside-- but… He knows what he’s doing, and this way he can keep an eye on Nebby while I go out, sometimes. I don’t like to do it much, but it’s an option.” 

Hau nodded as he fed Poppy more of the malasada, but Calem had to take a double take. “He… has his Pokémon attack him.” 

“And other moves, not just attack ones,” Lillie said. “Status moves, healing moves, he tries everything. It’s… I keep needing to mend his clothes, but there’s not much I can do about the damage to the building.” 

Well, that explained the ramshackle lab, anyway. 

“I do all I can to help, since he’s letting me live in his loft for now,” Lillie continued. “When he’s injured from it, I even help him get the first aid covered-- or sometimes, remind him that he  _ needs _ it, and get him to the Center for better care. He hasn’t needed to go to a proper hospital yet, but I… I worry about him.” 

Calem shook her head, and said, “Well… he’s survived this long, anyway. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Probably. Maybe. If not, there wasn’t really any preparation that Lillie could do for that, and she seemed the kind to borrow trouble. 

*** There was a moment of silence as the people and Poppy ate, until Lillie said, “I think I’m finished, actually, ” and pushed her plate forward. “If Poppy or Oliver would like the rest of mine, I’d be very happy to share. I do hate to waste…” 

“Oh, right,” Calem said. There wasn’t room on the girls’ side of the booth to release Oliver just yet, so she stood up and let him out where she’d been sitting. “Hey, little guy,” she said, “you want any of these treates, Oliver?” 

The Rowlet leaned forward to try to look at the table-- and couldn’t get any kind of good angle, so Calem picked him up to give him a better vantage point. Once he could finally see, he turned his head right around in Calem’s grip to give her what she took to be a raised eyebrow. His body hadn’t moved at all, so the effect was… unsettling, a bit. Still, he turned back to face frontward and wiggled out of her grip and onto the table, eating the fluffy pastries in single swallows-- Calem couldn’t even call them bites, because the bird just downed them like it would… entire small rodents, she supposed. Were Hoothoot and Noctowl as unsettling as Rowlet were, behaviorally? Or did Calem just get an odd one? 

Regardless, Oliver seemed to enjoy the food, even if he gave her after poking the half-eaten spicy malasada seemed to emphasize that he wasn’t happy about getting leftovers. Or at least that’s what Calem thought it was about, though she couldn’t be sure. 

When they finally got out of the malasada shop, it was pretty late in the afternoon already. Not sunset yet, but the shadows were certainly getting long. 

Hau walked straight ahead from the malasada shop, heading towards the pier. “You know, I love watching the ocean after eating,” he said. “It’s so… comforting, in any of her moods. Even when it’s stormy, I just wonder what she’s so upset about.” Tonight was fairly calem, though, the in and out of the waves slapping against the pier’s supports no faster or harder than you’d find in a travel agency’s advertisement. 

Calem looked a little sadly at the ferry station where she’d waved Marzanna off to meet her parents, mentally wishing the girl well on her journey-- and that she’d given Calem her new number. Oh, well. 

The tide was high enough that when Hau got to the end of the dock, he could sit on the edge and dangle his feet in the water. Calem took her shoes off and set them next to his own, then joined him. Lillie just stood behind them for a moment, before saying, “This has been really nice, but… I think I need to get back to the Laboratory, now. Goodbye.” 

Calem and Hau turned to look back at her as she waved, but she was already walking away. “Bye!” they said in unison. 

And then the two trainers just sat there in silence for a few minutes. The waves flopped in, swished out. Eventually  Hau brought out Poppy, which prompted Calem to bring Oliver out again. Poppy leapt right into the waves and swam about, popping in and out of the water, and even doing some flips. Oliver wasn’t much fond of the seaspray, it seemed, and huddled against Calem’s side-- though when she offered to withdraw him, he shook his head no. 

“Yo!” a voice said from behind the two, causing Calem to jump. “Give us your Pokémon if you don’t want trouble, yo!” 

Calem looked up to see two guys in black and white, wearing skull-inspired skullcaps, and the stylized skull necklaces. They had somewhat different shades of short-cropped blue hair -- one leaning more towards purplish, the other a bit closer to cyan. 

The purplish-haired one on the left jumped and blinked as Calem turned. “Oh hey, it’s you, bruv. Let’s split, Cee, this one’s cool.” 

*** “What?” the cyan-haired dude said. “But they’re just--” 

“Cool it,” said the other-- Jay, Calem realized, as she finally recognized the boy who’d tried to recruit her. “She aint--” and then he stopped, and looked at Calem. “Wait, that’s one’a the Prof dude’s Pokémon, innit?” 

Calem nodded. “Yeah, I, uh. Actually had my passport after all, so my urban camping was kind of… unnecessary, I guess.” 

Jay squinted at her-- probably a full-face glare, but with the handerchief over his nose, she couldn’t tell for sure. “Well, we’ll leave ya be this once,” he said, “but don’t count on it in th’ future, yeah?” 

Again, Calem nodded. “Take care, I guess. And sorry, I think?” 

Jay was pulling Cee’s arm as he walked away, and said, “Yeah, whatever.” 

As the two left the dock, Calem noticed a familiar pink-haired person standing at the edge of the pier. The two Skull kids paused to glare especially hard at this person, but the pink… pinkette? That’s not a real word, but could it be? -- either way, the person dismissed them calmly, with a shooing motion, before walking up to Calem and Hau. 

“Well,” the person said, “congratulations on dealing with those two without it coming to blows.” 

Calem stood up now to look this person in the eye, but alls he could manage was “...Thanks?” 

Hau stood up faster than she had, and went right in to hug the newcomer. “Ilima! I didn’t see you at the school yesterday, guess you must’ve been busy while I was there.” Then he pulled back and said, “Oh, you’re a Captain now, I guess I should be more formal or whatever.” 

Ilima, apparently, smiled. “It’s no trouble, Hau,” he said, “I’m still the same old me. I’m sorry I didn’t catch you then, but I’m glad to see you now.” 

“Say, uh, Ilima was it?” Calem said. “I-- I’m sorry, I can’t actually… I can’t determine whatever cues--” She huffed a sigh, then decided that beating around the bush wasn’t accomplishing anything. “What are your pronouns?” 

It took a moment, but Ilima grinned at that. “Either ‘he’ or ‘they’ is acceptable,” he said. “I slightly prefer ‘they,’ but it’s not a big deal and not worth grappling with folks about plural-singular grammatical issues. And you, Calem?” 

“I--” huh. Calem hadn’t really considered anything but ‘he’ or ‘she’ as possibilities. “She or her, I guess,” she said eventually. 

Nodding, Ilima said, “Well, how about that battle?” 

“Sweet! I wanna battle the winner! ...Actually I just wanna battle you both.” 

“Again?” Calem asked. “We just battled this morning.” 

Hau shook his head and said, “Yeah I know, but we only had our starters, then. Now we’ve both got more!” 

“Fine,” Calem said, “but for now-- Ilima! Let’s get this show on the road.” 

Ilima smiled and said, “That’s what I like to hear. Behold the magnificent Pokémon of the one and only Captain Ilima!” 

Both trainers released their Pokémon, and the battle started. Ilima only had a Yungoos and a Smeargle, though the latter’s moveset seemed to cover the whole range of Starter Pokémon types. Calem won, but her Ledyba, named Buggie after a stuffed Ledyba she had as a child, and Bugsy the Grubbin, had both fainted. It occurred to her that her naming lately wasn’t particularly creative. Somewhere around here there would be a computer where she could officially change those names to something less childish. 

“All right, Calem!” Hau called out. “Now battle me!” 

Calem responded, “Dude, I’ve got to heal my Pokémon, first.” Hau and Ilima both agreed with that, so the three headed to the nearest Center. First to give her Pokémon to the nurse was Calem, though Ilima wasn’t far behind. Hau was just bouncing in the corner, drinking a Tapu Cocoa from the Café off to one corner. 

“Miss Calemine,” the nurse’s voice rang out through the center, and found Calem’s gaze as she looked up. “Can you…” She beckoned Calem forward with her finger, and a great weight settled on Calem’s stomach quite suddenly. 

“Miss Calemine,” the nurse said again, more soflty now that Calem was at the ***counter. “We’ve healed those Pokémon that could be healed, but…. Your Ledyba and Grubbin are no longer with us, I’m afraid. Please do be more careful with your Bug-types in the future, they’re a bit more fragile than some other Pokémon.” 

Shaking her head, Calem said, “I wasn’t… I didn’t think I was pushing them. Ilima was a tough match, but…” 

The nurse shook her head sadly. “I understand, miss. Just do be more careful in the future.” After Calem stepped away, the nurse called for Ilima and gave him back his Pokémon, fully restored to health. “Have a good day, and stay safe,” the nurse said to the three as they left. 

“Let’s battle now, Calem!” Hau said, grinning broadly and already reaching for his Pokéball belt. 

Calem shook her head. “Sorry, Hau, I’m… not feeling very well anymore.” Not even a lie, technically. “Actually I think I’m going to turn in for the night. Happy travels.” She then turned around and went right back inside the Center. 


	5. Melemele

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote everything from chapter 4 through chapter 11, about 30k words, in three days last year, Nov 25th-27th 2017. after posting ch 4 I decided not to lose my momentum I guess, lol, and then I forgot to ever post it after that. I'm picking up the project to pick up the slack where I don't know what to write next for my main nano project but I want / ought / am able to write more, just not that same project anymore. 
> 
> so, disclaimer: this hasn't been so much as proofread. there's asterisks from where I stopped writing and wanted to know where to mark word count, etc. but I don't want to distract myself from writing longer than necessary, and also even if it's two people and a paperclip, my writing mentality only really thrives if I know at least someone is enjoying the ride my story is taking them on. 
> 
> comments mean the world to me, but don't feel pressured to leave them. even saying my MC is a terrible person (she is) and I'm terrible for writing this (debatable on both counts) would mean that you found something so interestingly appalling about my work that you cared to comment? idk. 
> 
> cheers

On the first route-- just outside of Hau’oli City even-- Calem’s fourth Pokémon died. An Alolan Meowth, who had been several levels stronger than the wild Makuhita, but with Focus Energy the Fighting-Type managed a critical hit, that knocked the cat out in one hit. 

 

There didn’t seem to be anything particularly brutal about the cat’s knockout, but Calem tested the single Revive she’d found so far on the input port on the back of the ball-- and, as expected, nothing happened. 

 

Grim as it was, Calem’s scientific mindset also had her wanting to test possibilities, so when the Makuhita was weakened by her other Pokémon to the point of capture, Calemine threw the Pokéball that had once held the Meowth at Makuhita. It didn’t even attempt to catch, just left a lump on the side of the poor thing’s head. Good to know. 

 

So she caught the Makuhita, formidable as it was, and kept--  _ him _ , apparently. 

 

Off to one side, there was a little detour of a path, which Calem took-- and found the Hau’oli Cemetery. She snorted a laugh to herself at finding this just now. Still, she could at least sit here, pay her respects to the Pokémon she had managed to kill so far. 

 

And then she very disrespectfully went ahead and  caught the ghosts that haunted the graves here. Were any of them the same ones who had only just died? Doubtful, Calem figured -- if they were  _ here _ then their bodies had probably been buried here, too. At least they probably weren’t carrying a grudge against her, anyway. 

 

...Including a Gastly, which didn’t look any different from its Kantonian relatives. So what was Nebby, if not an Alolan Gastly, then…? 

 

The two Skull thugs from the other day showed up again, this time at a large Berry Farm-- where they were being denied something that the owner literally gave away for free. “Really?” Calem asked. “You’re denying a couple of homeless kids food? This is the low we’ve stooped to?” 

 

The man balked. “I-- you’re siding with the  _ thugs _ !?” he blurted out, face growing red with indignation. 

 

“I. Repeat,” Calem said, losing her own patience, “Homeless. Kids. How old even  _ are _ you two?” 

 

“That sounds like a dangerous question to be answerin’, bruv,” Jay said with crossed arms. Calem got the distinct impression he was smirking under his handkerchief, but obviously couldn't be sure. 

 

She dismissively waved a hand in his direction, and returned to the Berry Farm proprietor. “Look, would it make you feel better if I, A Legitimate Trainer, took the berries instead?” 

 

The man scrunched up his whole face as he looked at her. “No,” he finally said. “These are free, but only for the Pokémon. The majority of my crop is sold to other regions, and I need to make a living too, you know.” 

 

“Fine, fuck you too, old man!” Calem shouted. She tried to think of anything else to add to that, a bit more clever, but came up with nothing-- so instead she just spun on her heel and stomped off, flipping two middle fingers in his direction. 

 

“...Hey, thanks for trying?” came a voice-- not Jay’s, so it must have been Cee’s. 

 

“Yeah,” Calem said, “and a lot of fuckin’ good ‘trying’ did, right?” She didn’t even look at the two grunts, just kept walking-- a little faster now, even. 

 

“If you wanna surf Mantine with us,” Cee said a little louder, “feel free!” 

 

Calem couldn’t hear the smack itself, but could hear Cee’s cry before Jay said, “And ‘xactly how do you think she’s gon find us, bruv?” 

 

At least they had something to do that no one could really complain about. Weren’t there even supposed to be competitions? 

  
  


Thoreau, Calem’s Grimer, while it had been very useful against the general fodder of the island so far, was hardly effective against the Totem Pokémon in the heart of the Verdant Cavern, and the giant Raticate seemed to pack a decent punch. Given the ‘fragility’ of her Pokémon lately, Calem felt it… prudent, to say the least, to use her sturdiest Pokémon against the Totem. Failing Thoreau’s high defenses, though, Titan-- her Munchlax-- at least had enough health to soak up damage without flinching. And offensively, he had something that the Grimer didn’t, couldn’t-- Metronome. 

 

There was, of course, the possibility that Titan would faint himself with something like Memento-- but the majority of moves would either give a status condition to the opponent, or damage them. A risk, but no one else had the health reserves that he did, so  _ anything _ here would be a risk. 

 

The first Metronome could hardly have been better suited to the situation: Curse. As a Munchlax, Titan didn’t need the Speed, and Attack and Defense were both ideal. The Totem attacked, but didn’t do as much as Titan’s entry turn. Then the Raticate called out, and a Rattata came out to join the battle. Shrugging, Calem took Thoreau back out-- or tried, but the ball wouldn’t open. Well, shit. Another Metronome, this time manifesting as Dragon Claw, took out the Rattata in one hit, thankfully-- but the Totem was the real target here, even if the adds made staying out more and more dangerous. 

 

Calem tried another Pokéball, with no success. These ones showed full health on her Pokédex’s status screen, but still the balls were unresponsive. 

 

Metronome summoned a move the Pokédex called ‘Fire Lash,’ which Calem hadn’t heard of before. It did a lot to damage on the Totem, and lowered its defense-- but the Raticate did a lot of damage to Titan first. He couldn’t handle another attack.  _ Shit _ . So she withdrew the Munchlax, and tried Thoreau’s ball again-- and it worked? 

 

Not one to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, Calem just told Thoreau to Bite the rat. Of course it didn’t do much, Dark on Dark was Not Very Effective, Calem wasn’t sure why she hadn’t noticed that earlier. Which also explained why Thoreau was as sturdy as he was against these rats. Regardless, Fire Lash had done enough damage that even the Totem fell at this one last blow. 

 

Once it was down, Calem just stood there, breathing hard. She hadn’t been the one fighting, but her heart was beating out of her chest anyway. In fact, she felt like sitting down for a few minutes. For whatever reason, she still wasn’t able to have more than one Pokémon out at a time, but she could at least pet Thoreau (goopy as he was) and feed him Pokébeans, the return him and do the same for Titan. The Pokémon certainly appreciated it, and didn’t seem to have any issues with how Calem had been battling. 

 

Eventually though, after grabbing a crystal from the pedestal, she left the cave-- cavern? It was  _ called _ Verdant Cavern, but since it seemed to have a natural opening, Calem wasn’t sure whether that was actually an accurate descriptor or not. Granted, she supposed whoever had named it just didn’t care much about geological accuracy, and it  _ did _ sound better. 

 

Ilima and Professor Kukui were waiting there for her when Calem left the cave. “Congratulations, trial goer!” he said. They said? Yeah, Calem could try to remember ‘they’ pronouns, that wasn’t too hard, and would make pronoun-tracking easier between them and nearly anyone else, which was a bonus. “You’ve cleared the first of Alola’s Trials, and with aplomb!” And they showed her how to execute a Normal-type Z-Move, though Calem expressed a strong doubt that she’d actually remember the dance. 

 

“Not to worry, friend!” Carlo said, floating up from Calem’s side. “I can record short files, so if you need pointers on the Z-move dances, I can help with that!” 

 

And then Kukui demonstrated what using a Z-move was like against a wild Yungoos, how to pull it off. Calem spaced out, even though she hadn’t known at least half of this-- she was so used to hearing professors explain things she already knew that, over the years, she’d started finding it hard to listen when they got into that Tutorial Mode they all seemed to have mastered. Even Professor Sycamore had done it a bit, though he was significantly less hands-on than Kukui was with his teaching method. 

 

At some point, Calem said, “Any idea why I couldn’t use multiple Pokémon to fight when the big guy called a little guy to help him?” Kukui blinked at her and closed his mouth, at which point Calem realized she’d probably interrupted him. Whoops. 

 

“Ah,” Ilima said, “yes. Alolan Pokémon do sometimes call for the help of their friends when they’re in trouble. Part of the Trial is not only defeating the Totem Pokémon, but doing so without the ability to ‘gang up,’ so to speak. This often leaves the Trial-goer at a two-to-one disadvantage, but that’s just how the trial goes.” 

 

Sighing, Calem said, “Good to fuckin’ know.” 

 

“You’ve quite coarse language for someone who aims to teach,” Ilima noted. 

 

“Just because I  _ want _ to doesn’t mean I  _ can _ , smartass,” Calem snapped, “so it’s a moot fuckin’ point anyway, okay? Just shove off.” For the second time in as many days, Calemine found herself stomping off. 

  
  


“Oh, Calem!” Lillie cried out as the trainer walked through the entrance into Melemele Meadow. “I’m so glad you’re here, I--” 

 

Lillie’s bag wasn’t squirming, so Calem stopped her rambling with an outstretched hand, and just asked, “Nebby?” 

 

With a sad nod, Lillie added, “And I ran out of Repels… I can even  _ see _ her--” Lillie pointed, and sure enough, Calem could see the little bluish wisps of smoke the Pokémon emitted. “I-- I, I’m sorry, but could you--” 

 

“Consider it done,” Calem said, and stepped down into the deep grasses and flowers of the meadow. 

 

She caught more Pokémon-- possibly cannon fodder, Calem pondered grimly-- and battled some trainers, including a girl who studied the way her Oricorio moved in order to help her dance better. An interesting exercise, but nothing that helped the girl in battle. 

 

Being the little shit that she is, Nebby wasn’t in the same place as she had been by the time Calem got there. ...All right, she was just a curious little thing probably, and bored to tears while Lillie had her in that bag, but-- oh, there! A swish of blue disappeared into the wall surrounding the little prairie, low down to the ground. Just because Nebby wasn’t a Gastly after all-- Calem would really have to ask Lillie about that-- didn’t mean she wasn’t necessarily a ghost; but there was something like a two in eighteen chance that that was the case, so Calem figured that she’d at least  _ look _ at the wall there and… lo and behold, a small cave entrance! 

 

Inside, Calem found the gaseous Pokémon-- and two people dressed in blue and white jumpsuits-- they almost looked like astronaut's space suits, to be honest-- with what looked like bicycle helmets. Large electronic visors blocking their eyes, and they had pale skin with a distinct bluish tint. 

 

“An elusive target indeed…” said the man-- there wasn’t much question of that, even almost completely covered as he was, given the large moustache that poked out from under his visor. Then he seemed to notice Calem, as he looked up sharply in her direction. “Hmm. Soliera, test this one.” He gestured towards Calem. “I would also like to check the functionality of the Poké Ball we tried making in the image of the devices used by these… ‘Alolan’ people.” He spoke as if he wasn’t familiar with half of the terms he used, haltingly and with emphasis Calem found a bit hard to follow. “Especially now that we have succeeded in using one to capture an Alolan native Pokémon specimen.” 

 

The woman next to him-- also hard to mistake, with the curve of her hips and the swell of her boobs-- said, “Yes, sir. I will do so at once.” She turned toward Calem, then, made a stiff approximation of the Alolan rainbow greeting gesture, and without further ado released a Furfrou. 

 

“O-okay, sure. Why not.” Nebby ran behind Calem’s legs, so she sent out Titan and started to battle. With the dog’s Fur Coat and Calem’s own team being almost entirely physical attackers, it took a little while to whittle down the Furfrou’s health-- but the strange woman didn’t seem to have much idea how to use the dog’s abilities to her benefit, so it wasn’t  _ difficult _ so much as just tedious. 

 

Once Calem won, the woman--hadn’t the man called her “Soliera”?-- said, “Fighting together with your Pokémon… was not something we had considered ourselves.” 

 

“So  _ that’s _ what a Pokémon Battle is!” said the man. “Soliera, I suppose if there are strong trainers like this young man around, we may not need to play any great role in this endeavor.” 

 

Calem interrupted, “S’cuse me, I’m a girl.” Because that was definitely the most pressing part of what this crazy dude was saying. 

 

The woman continued as if Calem wasn’t there, though, asking, “So then we do not need to bother with the girl, I assume…” 

 

The moustachio’d man nodded, and turned back to Calem. “That one there you have come to collect…” He gestured towards Nebby, still hiding behind Calem’s legs. “You must know that it is able to warp away in an instant when it is threatened. You should remember, though, that the holes that are created when it does so leave a path open to dangerous beings.” The two left, then, walking down towards the other end of the cave. 

 

Once Calem was back out in the meadow and returning Nebby to Lillie, Calem asked, “Hey, uh. Quick question.” 

 

“Yes?” Lillie answered, slipping Nebby back into her bag as quickly as she could.

 

With Lillie staring at her like that, Calem found it hard to find the right words. Her mouth opened, and closed, and her fist  clenched and unclenched, then covered the lower half of her face. Finally she managed, “Is there a space-themed Evil Team in Alola?”

 

Blinking owlishly at Calem Lillie shook her head. “I haven’t heard of anything like that, why?” 

 

“There were two creepy folks in the cave, apparently looking for Nebby-- specifically her, as far as I could tell. And they referred to not needing ‘the girl’ right before letting me walk off with Nebby. They were… very odd, and I don’t know, I just had--” something like a flashback to some of her first interactions with Team Flare, but Calem wasn’t going to burden Lillie with all that. “--A bad feeling, I guess,” she ended lamely. 

 

“Oh, no, that’s… definitely not good, you’re right,” Lillie said as the two walked back out of the cave. “Still… For whatever reason, they let you take Nebby willingly, it sounded like?” Calem nodded, and Lillie went on. “If they knew of Nebby, and of me, they knew-- well, some… other things. And if they didn’t act on those, then that’s-- a little reassuring, I suppose…” 

 

Calem shrugged at that. “If you say so, I guess” 

 

Before she could complain or worry further, Hau came running up the mountainous path to the north. “Oh, hey, it’s you guys!” he said, panting. “Ilima said you already passed the trial, Calem! I thought I was ahead of you, what even happened?” 

 

“I just train quickly, I guess,” Calem answered flatly. “Not bragging, just… I’ve been at it long enough, and the new Exp. Share models make things a  _ lot _ easier.” 

 

Regardless, Hau wanted to battle, and Calem wasn’t going to disappoint-- even if she was a little worried about her team. Hau insisted on using what was apparently a surplus of healing items on Calem’s team, and then they were off. 

 

Thankfully, Hau only had the Popplio from the other day, and a Pichu. Given that the latter had similar defenses to an overripe Mago berry, as is typical for the species, the battle was easily won. “Guess I’ve still got some catching up to do,” Hau said, grinning, as he withdrew Popplio. “Thanks for the battle, though! Man, you’ve already got so many Pokémon.” 

 

Apparently, Lillie had watched the match-- Calem’s laser focus on battle strategy tended to make her not notice or even forget about the things around her. “I still don’t like to see Pokémon hurt, and all,” Lillie said, “but I do love how much both of you, and both of your Pokémon, seem to enjoy the matches. I’m glad for you.” She smiled then, and nodded at Calem and Hau. “Professor Kukui said he’d be meeting me here, so I think I’ll stay. Have fun on your way back to Iki Town!” 

 

Hau waved and said, “Seeya, cuz!” and bounded off down the other side of Route Three. Calem, however, looked at Lillie for a long moment before saying, “Do you mind if I just hang out here with you, for a bit? I’m tired after hiking all day, and these old bones aren’t as spry as you young spring chickens,” and Calem hunched over with one hand on her back, the other hooked forward pantomiming holding a cane. 

 

Lillie laughed politely and said, “I don’t mind, though you can’t be that much older than I am.” 

 

Straightening up, Calem asked, “How old  _ are _ you? Like, fifteen or so?” 

 

“Nineteen,” Lillie said. “I know I don’t especially look it, but that’s the truth.” 

 

“Huh. Yeah, you’re right then. I’m only twenty one,” Calem said. “Came here for my birthday last winter, got shitfaced up in Po Town, it was a helluva night.” 

 

Lillie nodded. “I-I, I’m glad to hear that, I think? Assuming it was fun?” 

 

Now seemed like a decent time to sit down and rest-- Calem actually  _ was  _ pretty tired from everything. After doing so, she said, “Yeah, it was fun, aside from getting punched. My own damn fault, though, so it’s whatever. Then spent the next day with the Kahuna’s kid. It was a fun time, and it’ll be nice to see Ula’ula again.” 

 

“Then I’m glad to hear it,” Lillie said, though she still sounded a bit uncertain. She didn’t sit down on the grass like Calem, just leaned on the rock wall next to her, and then she was making contact with the wall as little as possible. 

 

“So wearing white all the time kinda sucks on the keeping it clean angle, doesn’t it?” Calem said, nodding towards Lillie. “I mean, to each their own and all, but it seems a little… work intensive on the laundry end of things.” 

 

With a little shrug, Lillie said, “That does sound like an accurate summation of things, but I don’t especially mind it. I’m doing the Professor’s laundry fairly often-- not that he’s ever asked me to, of course, he’s not that kind of person, but I’m not all that helpful as an assistant, so I try to make up for his generosity in other ways… And, well, I never used to do my own laundry, but  it’s not that difficult, really. Especially since the main thing of his that gets dirty are the lab coats, and I can just do those with my own.” 

 

The way Lillie talked about the Professor, and the slight blush that colored her cheeks, Calem had a feeling she knew what else Lillie wasn’t telling Calem about Certain Feelings the younger girl might have. 

 

Lillie didn’t seem to like the silence, though, so continued, “When his wife’s over-- she lives and works on Akala Island, I guess, so I don’t see that much of her-- but when she’s over, she helps me with household chores some, but mostly she’s there to talk about research of some kind or other. She’s helping me look for information about where Nebby’s really from, but there’s really only so much information about…” Lillie waved a hand about vaguely. “Other dimensions, I guess? I don’t quite understand it, even if I grew up so entrenched in it all. I just can’t really wrap my mind around it.” 

 

That was… a lot of information to process at once, so Calem ended up latching on to the one morsel of that ramble that wasn’t really news-- “Right, you mention Nebby. I’d assumed when I first saw her that she was an Alolan Gastly, but at the Cemetery today, I saw some other Gastly and they looked… well, just like I’m used to, I guess.” 

 

A few moments of blinking from Lillie, and then she laughed, louder than she had since Calem had met her. “Oh, my! I suppose that makes sense, but... No, she’s not a Gastly. Truthfully, I don’t know  _ what _ she is-- Mother always referred to her as Cosmog, and I suppose that would make sense as a species name, but ever since I saw her she just looked like a Nebby to me.” 

 

Grinning at this, Calem said, “Well, I certainly like it. It’s cute and spacey, fitting for such a cute little cloud of space-dust.” 

 

“I’m glad you think so, Calem,” Lillie responded. “I was… worried about how mad you seemed the other day, about the whole bag issue. I don’t like anyone not liking me, but as a new student for Professor Kukui to usher through the trials… Especially with Hau, as close friends as he and his grandfather are with the Professor, I despaired over having gotten off on such a supremely wrong foot with you, in fact.” 

 

And then it was Calem’s turn to laugh. “Sorry for being an asshole,” she said. “I mean-- I stand by my reaction at the time, with the information I had, but I’m starting to get it now. And if the Prof’s okay with it, then I’m sure it’s fine.” Granted, this was the same professor that apparently took Pokémon attacks head on. 

 

“The Prof’s okay with what, now?” Kukui’s voice came around the bend, startling both Calem and Lillie. 

 

Even so, Calem recovered quickly enough to say, “Oh, we should just torch the lab and maybe all of Hau’oli, the beginning of our plan to take over the world.” 

 

Kukui’s grin faltered, and he said “Not the best joke, Calem. I’m fine, but that can be a sensitive subject for some folks around here, yeah?” 

 

“...What?” was all Calem could say. 

 

Professor Kukui gestured to the two of them to come along, then said, “I’ll explain in a bit. For now, Lillie, it’s time we got you back home!” 

 

With Lillie and the Professor by her side, Calem was very glad that none of the (admittedly few) battles she found herself engaged in ended up with any more dead Pokémon, all the way back to the Lab on the beach. One entrie route so far without any deaths! ...It was kind of sad, how low her standards dropped after a day and a half-- but then, after the shitshow that was The Team Flare Debacle and its aftermath, it seemed almost fitting that the next ‘fun carefree Pokémon adventure’ she tried to go on would find a way to be depressing anyway. 

 

*****

Hau was already in Iki Town when Calem arrived. “Hey, Calem! Finally passed you again, I beat my gramps!” he shouted excitedly as he hugged her, and showed her the new Z-ring he was wearing. “It was great, my Pichu evolved right before, and then Poppy evolved into Brionne right after from the experience from the whole thing, and I’m done with the Grand Trial--” He could barely stop for breath, it seemed. 

 

Calem grinned and ruffled the hair on his head. “I’m proud of you, kid,” she said, “Now let’s see if I can do the same.” Hopefully without losing anyone, she mentally added. 

 

And it was certainly tough. Thoreau and Titan, being Dark and Normal types respectively, were no match for Hala’s Fighting-type specialty-- no matter how the health or defense, or what have you-- so Calem didn’t even bother bringing them out. Bonecrusher, the Vullaby she’d caught on the mountainous way up to the Meadow managed a few hits of her own, but had to be withdrawn before too long; similarly, a Cutiefly she’d caught in the Meadow, named Flufflebuns for the hell of it, lasted surprisingly well due to her Fairy-typing-- but her Bug was still fairly fragile, and she was knocked back hard enough to give Calem cause to worry. So after Fluffle took out the Makuhita, it was down to Pearl the Pikipek or Oliver to take down the Crabrawler that Hala sent out next. 

 

The way things were going the past few days, Calemine didn’t especially want to risk her starter, even if he would be resistant to Fighting-- so Pearl it was. 

 

Before Calem could ask Pearl to do anything at all, Hala touched the bracelet on his wrist and did a dance, which his Crabrawler joined in on-- and Hala shouted, “All-out Pummeling, Crabrawler!” 

 

The boxing-gloved crab pulled its--arm? Leg? Back, with light glowing around the end; then it hopped forward, and indeed landed blow after blow after blow, faster than Calem’s eyes could track, the glowing getting brighter and brighter until she eventually had to shield her eyes. 

 

When Calem saw the red glow from the inside of her eyelids die down and she dared to open her eyes, what she saw was… Pearl was, somehow, still standing. She looked tired and hurt, but had the energy to stare daggers at the crab in front of her. “Pluck, girl!” Calem said, and the bird didn’t hesitate to hop forward, flutter up, and attack-- her talons raked over the brawler’s eye, and the crab emitted a harsh squeal as it was automatically withdrawn into its ball, having fainted. 

 

“You… you made it,” Calem said as the tired and banged-up bird fluttered over to her trainer for approval. The bird chirruped at her trainer, who eventually bent down and gave the pets and treats that were asked for, before withdrawing the poor thing back into its ball. 

 

The rest of the evening kind of went by in a haze. Calem wasn’t sure what she had expected for the Grand Trial, but having to deal with a Z-move hadn’t been part of it, that was certain. Even in Kalos where Mega Evolutions were a much larger deal than elsewhere, she hadn’t seen many folks using them, and even then only the likes of the… well, there was Calem herself, Korrina, Diantha, and Lysandre, as far as she could remember, though maybe Augustine had actually managed the artificial Keystone duplication process by now. On the other hand, hadn’t he been working on that with Lysandre? 

 

Back in the present, though, Calem hadn’t expected such a move so early on in the challenge… and yet, her little bird, her precious little Pearl-- okay, Calem hadn’t thought much about the generic-first-route-bird until just now-- whose Flying resistance was nullified by her Normal weakness, had withstood it. 

 


	6. Heahea

There were, apparently, a few different ways Calem could get to Heahea City on Akala Island. The Professor offered his boat, since the ferry was out of order for a few days for routine maintenance; or she could go with Hau, suit up in her Riding Gear from her Ride Pager, and surf on a Mantine from one place to another. 

 

“Yeah, sorry Prof,” Calem said, “there’s pretty much no contest. Your thing looks cute and all, but  _ I can literally surf on the back of a Mantine and fulfill my childhood dreams of what I thought the move Surf could do _ . I have been waiting for this for like, fifteen solid years, my dude.” 

 

With the Ride harnesses specifically fitted to the Mantine, it wasn’t too difficult, either-- much easier than trying to stand up on an inanimate surfboard, for sure. Calem was years away from getting anywhere close to the scoreboards, or even jumping off the crest of a wave, at least intentionally; she sure wouldn’t be trying after how her flailing seemed to send the Mantine straight into the water, dragging her down with it, even if only for a few second. 

 

All in all, it was… a little anticlimactic, given the fifteen years of hype. Even so, Calem’s inner child still cheered at the very fact that she’d done it at all. 

 

Ooon the  _ other  _ hand, Calem didn’t have any of her stuff with her for a while-- fearing it would get wet or worse, dropped, Calem had given her bag to Kukui to take with him on his boat to the other island. 

 

Unfortunately, Calem had no real way to know off-hand whether Kukui and Lillie had passed her up on that ‘classic, well-seasoned’ sailboat and Calem just didn’t see them, or if her terrible surfing skills had actually managed to pass the rickety old thing. No one on these damn islands seemed to reliably carry a phone. Calem wasn’t expecting folks here to have Holo Casters, of course-- Fleur de Lis labs may have had a division working on worldwide distribution, at some point, but given Lysandre’s ultimate goals and the news that broke about his surveillance through them, it was probably just a means to an end, even as useful to the populous of Kalos as it had been. But no, apparently even Marzanna’s old cell phone was a bit of an oddity. Landlines seemed to be the law of the land around here. 

 

Huffing to herself, Calem just resolved to wander around the beachfront and dock area until she ran into the pair, maybe checking out the shops that lay close to the area. There was even a glasses shop, and Calem wondered if she’d by any chance kept her glasses prescription in her passport. It would be really nice to see clearly again, without having to squint. 

 

Not that Calem’s vision was all  _ that _ bad, just barely enough to warrant the glasses. Reading was a bit hard at a distance, or other details, but broad strokes were clear enough--

 

Unless, of course, Calem was too distracted by her own thoughts to be paying attention to the information her eyes were trying to give her. “Is that-- Calemine, what in the  _ hell _ ,” a voice came to Calem’s right, and she turned to find herself face to face with a pair of folks she couldn’t fail to recognize, even with as many vacation-tourist trappings as they were wearing-- Sina and Dexio, Professor Sycamore’s field research assistant. Sina’s large sunglasses blocked her eyes from view, but her mouth was certainly screwed into a tight frown, and her hands were balling into fists. 

 

“I, um,” Calem started, and looked around. She could physically run, but there wasn’t any convenient excuse for her to do so. 

 

“Arceus, Calemine,” Sina continued, “if you’re fine, why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

 

“That’s, uh,” Calem started again, finding herself stumbling awkwardly for hardly the first time at Sina’s criticisms, “kind of the point of running away?” she eventually managed. “I was just… making everything worse, I don’t know.” 

 

Dexio chimed in then, “To be fair, you made Augustine worry  _ more _ when you were just.. Suddenly gone. Especially so soon after… everything else.” 

 

Dragging her fingers through her hair and sighing, Calem said, “I… guess, yeah, but it’s-- look, he’d probably have tried to get me to stay and after the whole Flare Incident and Ly--” and Calem remembered suddenly that even if no one seemed to be paying attention to the conversation, they were still in the middle of a fairly busy thoroughfare. At any rate, Sina and Dexio both knew as much, or more, about the issues Professor Sycamore had regarding Lysandre-- namely, that the Professor’s long-time boyfriend proposed marriage while also revealing that he was the leader of a terrorist organization that wanted to destroy about 90% of the world. Oh, and that when Augustine refused, that Lysandre thought destroying the world was more important than keeping Augustine alive.  

 

Sina and Dexio,  _ also _ part of the Professor’s… polyamorous relationship, whatever that would be called, had played a large part in taking down Lysandre. 

 

Officially, Calem had been part of that for about four days, or  _ something _ , before Lysandre announced the completion of the whole plan and the whole thing was just a clusterfuck. 

 

One that Sina knew, and Dexio knew, and Calem knew, and they all knew the others knew-- but notably few other folks did, and with public personalities like a region’s Pokémon Professor’s on the line, blabbing would do nobody any favors. 

 

“Were you going to finish that thought?” Sina’s voice pierced Calem’s thought bubble as the darker skinned young woman stared daggers at her. It was almost surprising that the glare itself hadn’t broken Calem’s concentration, sharp as it was. 

 

*** “It was just a whole thing,” Calem said, quickly growing exhausted, “and being… there, around everyone and everything. I couldn’t… I don’t know what you even want from me, I just needed to leave, and I’m sorry I hurt Augustine or whatever, but he’s better off like this than had I brought him down with me, okay?” 

 

Before Calem could start walking away, though, Dexio said, “Before you go--” and caught the trainer’s attention. “By any chance are you one of the Trainers that’s just started your journey under Professor Kukui?” Dexio nodded toward Carlo floating by Calem’s side.

 

Calem glanced at Sina before answering, “Uh, yeah, I am. Why do you ask?” 

 

“We’re actually here due to some strange activity readings we got in Kalos,” he said. “The legendary Pokémon Zygarde typically is fairly dormant, a majority of it residing in the deepest parts of Terminus Cave, other cells scattered about, as far as we can tell. Within the past month-- so later than the date that the last aftershocks of the Ultimate Weapon event should have been affecting the landscape-- various instruments around the region have been picking up strange energy spikes. One of our other interns had actually been studying Zygarde for his project--” Sina gave Calem a pointed glare at this, but Dexio didn’t pause his infodump, “so once it became clear what was happening, we managed to develop this.” Dexio reached into his bag and took out a black and green polyhedron of some kind. “The Zygarde Cube should be able to find and ‘capture,’ in a sense, singular Zygarde Cells. Once you’ve collected enough of them, and the Core Cells, we’re hoping to be able to collect them into various stages of power that Zygarde is historically supposed to be able to maintain.” 

 

Out of all that information, what Calem managed to remark on was, “I’m not a math genius, but I can tell that’s not a cube.” Indeed, the shape had some square sides-- but also larger ones, with six. 

 

“...Technically it’s a truncated octahedron,” Dexio admitted, “but we were expecting this to be taken and used by children, truth be told. We’re worried about what has Zygarde coming to the region in the first place, but the cells themselves can’t even battle-- so we thought the equivalent of the League Circuit that children here do as a rite of passage into adulthood seemed the ideal mode of collection.” 

 

That was too good of a point for Calem to find any fault with, so she shrugged and accepted the device. 

 

“Backtracking a bit,” Sina said, sounding a little less angry now, “since none of us knew how to contact you or if you were even alive to contact… Being in the blast radius of the Ultimate Weapon seems to have done something to Serena and Shauna. We’re not quite sure what, yet, beyond that they have the same kind of energy that Mega Stones do. There’s other anomalies with their health and that of those around them, but we don’t understand what any of it is pointing to, yet.” 

 

There was a moment of silence, and eventually Calem clued in that she was supposed to be saying something. “Oh… kay?” she tried, not sure what was expected of her. 

 

“Just--” Sina sighed. “Be careful. Just because I am not exactly  _ fond _ of how you’ve behaved, that doesn’t mean I want you to get hurt.” 

 

Dexio added, “If you could handle it, Augustine would love to hear from you, Calemine. If you can’t-- do you have the Lab’s public phone number?” 

 

Calem shrugged. “Prof Kukui has my bag at the moment, and my Holo’s in there. If I don’t, though, I can probably find it online or something…?” 

 

Nodding, Dexio said, “True. If nothing else, you should be able to ask Kukui to contact either us, or Augustine. If you notice anything odd going on, please let someone know, okay?” He put a hand on Calem’s shoulder and gave a strange, sideways smile. “Sina and I didn’t know you for very long, but then we didn’t know the Professor very long before we fell into all of that. Prickly as Sina may be--” Sina glared at Dexio for this, but she had a half-grin on her face, this time around. “--we were worried about you, disappearing without a trace. Keep well, okay?” 

 

With that, the pair turned and left with a wave, headed towards the large white and blue hotel that loomed over Heahea Beach. 

 

*** “Friends of yours?” Hau asked around a mouthful of food as he walked up to Calem. 

 

“Sssomething like that,” Calem answered. “It’s-- complicated. You ever been tangled up in a web of folks who are dating, used to date, hurt each other… all that kind of stuff?” 

 

Hau shook his head, saying, “Nah, I’m not super interested in all that romance stuff, really. And never had a whole lot of friends that weren’t family too, so not a whole lot of friction, I guess?” 

 

“Being blood doesn’t mean you can’t hurt them,” Calem said ruefully, “but it’s good to hear you’re doing well in that regard, anyway. Honestly, I can’t say I recommend the whole… romance ordeal. Much more trouble than it’s worth.” 

 

Hau nodded, then was silent for a bit. Eventually, though, he held out a bag to Calem, which she took and discovered some Poké Beans inside. “It turns out they’re pretty tasty,” Hau said, and took one out of his own bag to break it apart. “Never really thought about it until the guy in the café said something about it. Guess the guy who takes care of the biggest vine where these grow just loves the prettier ones, says they taste different.” 

 

Calem laughed, and nibbled on one of her own. Its taste and texture was more like that of a large nut than a bean, though there was a sweet and slightly fruity flavor to it as well-- which seemed to differ slightly by color, as she nibbled on a second one. “I think I’ll save the rest of these for my Pokémon,” Calem said, “but thanks. I’d never have tried them myself, either.” 

 

Hau looked at her and said, “I mean, they don’t cost that much, yeah? If you can’t afford them or whatever, I have a big enough allowance, plus what I’m getting from folks while on the Trial anyway-- it’s be no problem, cuz.” 

 

Given Calem was also doing the traveling-trainer thing, she  _ should _ have been as flush with cash as Hau was, even minus the parental support he claimed-- but after her fourth Pokémon had died on her second day out, Calem had been keeping her team as close to top condition as she could, trying to take as few risks as possible. This meant either a lot of walking to and fro, to and from, back to the Pokémon center after every single trainer battle-- or stocking up on as many Potions as she could afford. 

 

“It’s fine,” Calem said, waving a hand dismissively. “If I run out of them or whatever before the Café guy gives me the daily free batch or whatever, sure, I’ll buy some. I just don’t think it’s really… tasty enough to eat myself, rather than bond with my team over the treat?” 

 

Hau nodded and shrugged, “Why not both, though?” 

 

Calem countered, “Why not just feed twice as many beans to my Pokémon? To each his own, and all. They’re good, but--” 

 

Before this merry-go-round argument could go on much longer, both of their attention was caught by a woman’s voice ringing down the street. “You still haven’t managed to find a shirt that goes with your lab coat, hmmm?” With a description like that, Calem doubted there were many people in Alola that she could be talking to. 

 

And, sure enough, Professor Kukui and Lillie were walking up from the docks, and Nebby not far behind. Hau and Calem made their way over to him, arriving about the same time as the voice’s owner did-- and she continued, “I’ve told you, you’re going to scare away strangers, dressed like that…” 

 

“Or attract the wrong kind,” Calem added with a grin, which caused the new lady to shoot her a look. 

 

At the arrival of-- actually, two women, one taller with black hair and shorter with long green hair-- Lillie stepped in front of Nebby to try to obscure the Pokémon, then began to crouch and said something, too softly for Calem to hear. 

 

Evidently the Professor heard it, and said a bit louder than necessary, “Don’t sweat it, Lillie! These are safe folks, yeah?” 

 

The taller, dark-skinned woman turned to look at Calem and Hau, who had just arrived from the north-- and seemed to recognize the boy. “Oh, you two must be the newest Trial Goers, aren’t you?” She smiled, then and said, “Hello there. It’s nice to meet you all-- I’m Olivia.” 

 

The shorter girl with a flower strung in her green hair waved energetically, and added, “Hiya, thanks for stopping by! I’m Mallow, one of the Captains you’ll be facing here on Akala Island. 

 

“I was on my way to see who was pulling into port, and ran Mallow here while she was out on a delivery,” Olivia said, putting her hand on Mallow’s shoulder. 

 

Chuckling, Mallow added, “Literally  _ ran _ into me! It was kind of a mess, but it’s fine now. Just a few bruises.” Now that Mallow mentioned it, she did seem to have a bruise on her neck-- though that would be an awfully strange place to get hurt by a fall. Olivia glanced away as she said that, and Calem  _ thought _ she could see the color rise to her cheeks, but it was hard to tell with skin as dark as Olivia’s. 

 

“Will you be well enough to continue all your Captain’s duties?” Kukui asked, worried and oblivious to any potential double meanings. “I can’t help you directly, nah, but I’m sure I could find--” 

 

Mallow laughed, a deeper laugh than Calem would have expected from short girl-- on the other hand, while Mallow’s cutoff overall shorts were certainly cute, her muscle tone showed that the Captain was more concerned with function than form. “I’m fine, Kukui! Thanks, but really, it’s no problem.” 

 

“So,” Olivia said, “what’s the plan now, for all of you?” 

 

“First and foremost,” Calem said with a chuckle, “I plan on getting my bag back from Kukui.” 

 

Everyone had a good laugh at that, but then the question was asked again, and Calem didn’t have a serious answer. Hau’s plan was “Just keep going on, I guess! Akala’s gonna be harder than Melemele, but we can do it, I’m sure of it!” Hau grinned and hopped excitedly. 

 

Olivia looked briefly at Lillie, who answered, “Oh, uh, you know… I have… a few plans…” Olivia didn’t push further than that, though. 

 

Kukui eventually answered, “As for myself, I’ll be working with Burnet for a bit, and available to help if anyone needs me. Maybe do a little field research if I’ve got the time, but we’ll see.” 

 

They chatted for a few minutes, and then Captain Mallow and definitely-not-her-girlfriend Olivia waved goodbye; Calem noticed for the first time that Lillie didn’t wave, but slightly bow as she wished the women well. 

 

“I’m sure she wanted to make sure you made it here safely,” Kukui said, hand stroking his goatee in thought. “I doubt 

she’d ever admit it aloud, though! Hah!” He turned, then, to look at Hau and Calem. “That’s just Olivia for you, though. She’s a kind kahuna, but puts up a front like a brick wall.” 

 

That made a fair bit more sense than just being Mallow’s ‘special friend,’ Calem supposed, given the way she addressed Kukui. Still, “Given Kahuna Hala, I’d had the impression that Kahunas were like… an island’s Wise Elderly Leader, or something.” 

 

“I can see how you’d come to that conclusion,” Kukui said, then gestured to Calem and Hau to move. A moment later, he started walking slowly himself. “That was the general pattern for a long time, but in the past decades… Each Kahuna is chosen by the island’s Tapu. Typically, the position is a lifelong one; after a Kahuna dies, a new one isn’t chosen until there is someone worthy of the position, in the Tapu’s eyes, rather than picking whoever is available as soon as possible.” 

 

Calem was nodding as she listened; Hau yawned and said, “Hey, Prof-- do you mind if I go on ahead, since this isn’t news to me?” 

 

Kukui looked back at Hau and smiled. “Sure, Hau. I’m headed to the Dimensional Research lab at the moment, yeah, if you’d like to talk to Burnet-- or if you’d prefer to just go to the next route, I’ve got no problem with that.” 

 

With that, Hau waved and launched off towards the route. 

 

“Where was I?” Kukui asked, looking at Lillie and Calem for help. 

 

Lillie answered before Calem could, “Tapu picks who they think is best to be a Kahuna?” 

 

“Yeah!” Kukui said too loudly, and started walking again, with purpose. “Often, Kahunas would live for a long time, so most folks knew them as the old wise one with a magical connection to the protector of the islands, yeah? But they’re not..  _ usually  _ chosen when they’re already old. Olivia was only chosen a few years ago, but she’s handled the position with aplomb, yeah. She’ll be as hard as a Stone Edge in fifty years, I’m sure of it.” 

 

Calem waited until it sounded like Kukui was done speaking, then said, “That’s good to know, thanks. And sorry if assuming was rude.” 

 

Kukui clapped Calem on the back and said, “Not at all, cousin! I just saw the chance to educate, so I took it, yeah? Speaking of which--” Kukui pointed at a building coming up, a little taller than its neighbors and set back from the main drag a little. There was a low wall surrounding its yard, and a large satellite dish stood to one side. “Welcome to the Dimensional Research lab, Calem! Why don’t we go on up?” 

 

The three of them walked in and crowded into the elevator-- even if it was a very different Professor, Calem still found it a bit nostalgic of riding the elevator up to Professor Sycamore’s office-- and then walked out. 

 

The Dimensional Research Lab was full of chrome-plated machinery, flashing lights indicating various data being collected and sent, one wall filled by three massive screens-- each showing different views, two of them camera feeds and one a set of data points-- another wall filled with neatly-stacked bookshelves. Calem couldn’t read what was written, but there even seemed to be labels grouping sections of books together. 

 

All in all, it was much closer to what Calem had come to expect of a Regional Professor’s lab than the heap of electronics in the basement of someone’s old beach house that Kukui worked out of. 

 

“Hey, honey!” Kukui called, and a loud squeak came from the other room, behind a partition. 

 

In another moment, a woman with fluffy white hair came out, grinning broadly. Kukui gestured towards her as he spoke to Calem, “This here’s Professor Burnet. She runs the Dimensional Research lab, yeah… And she’s also my wife!” 

 

Burnet made it to Kukui and hugged him briefly, kissing him on the cheek. “Oh, you,” she said, then turned back to the girls. “Is there anything in particular you wanted to see, or help with… Any new information?” This last bit was definitely directed at Lillie, who shook her head. 

 

“No, I’m afraid not,” Lillie said. “I thought I could try to help you while Professor Kukui was staying on Akala for a while, though.” 

 

Burnet nodded to Lillie and said, “Well, you’re always welcome, dear.” To Calem, then, she said, “Feel free to look around yourself, ah-- I don’t think I caught your name, actually.” 

 

“Calem, at your service,” our protagonist introduced herself, putting forth her hand to shake. Burnet looked at it a moment, perhaps surprised, but then took it and shook vigorously. 

 

“Nice to meet you, Calem,” Burnet said and smiled. “We specialize in dimensional research here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask someone-- as long as they don’t look too busy, anyway,” she said, and chuckled, holding one hand to her mouth in a very cute kind of way. “Or the various texts on our shelves-- just don’t take anything out of the building, please.” 

 

Calen nodded. “Aye aye, ma’am!” she said, and gave a mock-salute. 

 

Burnet started to turn away, but stopped suddenly as she had a thought-- then turned back to Calem. “Say, we’ve been getting some strange readings, lately,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s anything that would be generating visible distortions, yet, but while you’re doing your island trial, could you keep an eye out? And ask Hau to do the same, please.” 

 

This gave Calem pause. “...Does this have anything to do with the Zygarde thing that Sina and Dexio were talking about?” 

 

Burnet blinked, and said, “Zygarde? I wasn’t aware of a ‘Zygarde thing,’ so… I can’t rule that out, no. Do you have any more information?” 

 

Shrugging, Calem responded, “They told me that they were in contact with Kukui, so he’d be a better bet.” She took a breath and then bitterly added without thinking, “Especially since they don’t hold any particular  _ grudges  _ against your husband, no emotional bias there.” 

 

“Yeees, that might cause issues,” Burnet said, giving Calem an odd look. “I really need to get back to work soon, but some time later, is that something you’d need to talk about?” 

 

Calem waved a hand, saying, “No, uh-- it’s fine, sorry I mentioned it. Didn’t mean to make things awkward. You can go, I’ll try not to get in the way of real science happening.” 

 

The odd look from Burnet persisted for a moment longer, but then the Professor left after all, and Calem was left alone with her thought. 

 

Well, alone in a very busy laboratory that had more people and things to do than room to do it in. 

 

She did eventually find a place to sit and read some of the collected material, even if most of it lost Calem fairly early on. The general principles she was good with, but the math and physics involved were so above her head it was…  _ out of this world. _ Calem snickered softly at her own joke. 

 

When Calem found she was much more interested in the fact that Giratina, Palkia, and Bronzong were grouped together-- with Dialga nowhere to be found-- that Calem realized she was probably not getting anything new from the readings. Still, it was nice, and Calem was glad that Kukui had invited her here-- but it was time to go. 

 

“Seeya, Lillie!” Calem called out as she made for the elevator, though she wasn’t even sure where the girl was. She certainly didn’t wait for Lillie to wave back. 


	7. Paniola

One route seemed the maximum that Calem could go without killing her Pokémon, anymore. Not that the Bellhop, on his break from working at the Tidesong Hotel no doubt, knew that he’d killed Calem’s little Zubat-- Alfred wasn’t a particularly creative name, but it was one of Calem’s favorite for the species. She had a few Crobats named Alfred over the years, and she’d been hoping to add another one. 

 

Oliver, now a Dartrix, dispatched the offending Drifloon without much more trouble. Alfred had done most of the work, really. 

 

The next trainer might offer her better luck, or at least Calem would try even harder than she already was to be careful-- or that was the plan, until the Collector sent out his Munchlax. 

 

Calem’s competitive spirit drove her to bring out her own Munchlax, to prove Titan was better than this Collector’s. They were fairly toe-to-toe for a few minutes, though Titan’s reliance on Metronome made it a give-and-take operation. 

 

Titan wiggled his fingers again, and the metronome took effect. A spectral eye appeared on his forward as he floated up, shimmering wisps of light spreading out behind him like wings. The eye started to glow brighter, and six points of light around his body drew in toward his chest, and it fired at the other Munchlax. 

 

The Collector’s Munchlax didn’t so much as twitch. 

 

“Moongeizzzt Beam had no effect,” Carlo said helpfully, as Titan dropped back down to the ground. 

 

That was just the kind of day it was, Calem decided. 

 

Calem hadn’t brought Tabitha the Makuhita with her today, or any fighting-type, but it was clearly time to end this battle before something worse than an especially flashy Splash was called from Metronome. As her strongest fighter, Oliver was again an easy choice. 

 

It was a little easier, Calem had decided, to train several more Pokémon than necessary, so that when one died-- like poor Alfred-- she’d have one about the same level to take its place. Harsh, but-- as Calem caught sight of the Tide Song hotel between the trees, she realized this was probably what Sina and Dexio meant regarding the health of those  _ around _ Serena. 

 

So that was… good to know. Calem wouldn’t tell anyone that Sina and Dexio already hadn’t, of course-- she was bound to be thrown out of the league if anyone discovered she wasn’t simply releasing these Pokémon into the wild. Even the three Pokémon that had been taken to the Pokémon Center looked bad enough. 

 

And it’s not like Calem was any good at being a researcher’s assistant, or a student, or at literally anything else than being a Trainer. So she carried on. 

 

Hau met her at the entrance of Paniola Town, and asked for another battle, after getting healed up. Thankfully, he still only had the Pikachu and Brionne.

 

“No new party members?” Calem asked after she’d won, and with no casualties. 

 

Hau shrugged. “Eh, I like these two,” he said as they walked to the Center to heal back up. “I’ve met a lot of other Pokémon, but nobody seemed to really… get me, I guess.” 

 

“You’re losing out on a lot of strategic possibilities that way,” Calem said. 

 

Again, Hau shrugged. “That’s fine with me. I’m not really here for the strength or whatever, just trying to be the best self that I can be.” 

 

That was a good goal, Calem had to admit. “Well, thanks for waiting for me,” she added. “It’s kind of nice to be back in the rival role, trying to catch up but not quite there… It’s familiar, you know?” 

 

Hau laughed at that. “I might be going faster than you, but I haven’t beat you yet,” he pointed out. 

 

“Well, no,” Calem said. She had significantly higher stakes this time, so it was just as well that Poppy had no advantage over Oliver. What she said aloud, though, was, “True, but I’ve had a lot more experience in that department. Exploring, though… you’ve got me beat by a mile, kid.” Calem gave Hau a friendly punch on the shoulder. 

 

“I’m not a kid, dude,” Hau said-- he sounded a little offput, but he was still smiling. “I mean yeah, I’m still technically a ‘minor,’ at seventeen, but that’s not  _ that _ young!” 

 

Calem held out one hand and wobbled it back in forth as her response. Raising his eyebrow, Hau asked, “So how old are  _ you _ then?” 

 

“Twenty one,” Calem said. “Old enough to drink pretty much anywhere, now.” ...Old enough to drink  _ legally _ , anyway, not that a little thing like that stopped her in the past. 

 

“And only four years older than me,” Hau said, and pushed Calem’s shoulder. “You hypocrite!” Still, he was laughing when he said it, and Calem laughed too. 

  
  


It was nice to see Captain Mallow about her duties -- trading some goods from the Lush Jungle for some Moomoo Milk for cooking, in fact -- and nice to get another Pokémon on the Ride Pager, but ultimately not terribly interesting, in hindsight. 

 

Calem idly wondered when she became so blasé to the details of day to day happenings on her Pokémon Journeys ™ . Last year, she shrugged through this trivial stuff while traveling through Kalos, and beyond that she couldn’t remember specifics very well. 

 

While she was distracted-- as seemed to be happening an  _ awful lot _ lately-- Calem drove her new Stoutland to walk almost directly into a Mudbray. According to Carlo, it was wild, so free game. When she had Titan attack it, an Ability triggered-- raising its defense on contact. 

 

Calem just about fell in love with the little thing. Donkey Oatey, as Calem named the little filly, seemed to have the potential to be the perfect tank on Calem’s party. With an ability like that, Calem didn’t have to dance on the razor’s edge, always hoping against the opponent’s critical hits, always trying her best but taking so many things on faith. 

 

Shortly thereafter, though, Titan evolved into Snorlax. The big guy immediately tried to hug his poor trainer, before realizing he was smothering her. Still, Calem was very glad to have two such defensive and sturdy Pokémon on her team. 

  
  


It was too late to keep going. Not by any laws, or at least none that Calem knew of, but her body was giving her a clear message: even if she hadn’t  _ finished _ walking to the next Pokémon Center, she was  _ done _ . 

 

She plopped down on the grass just beside a small rocky ledge. Out of a tarp, some sticks, and a few heavy rocks, Calem made a temporary rain-shelter. It wasn’t raining  _ yet _ , but better safe than sorry. 

 

Then, a few feet away on the rocky shelf, Calem set up a little pyramid of twigs, sticks, and leaves, with a core of a toilet paper tube filled with napkins. “And they thought I was over prepared,” Calem mused to herself as she lit the bundle in the middle with her lighter, and it caught much easier than the twigs around it. 

 

It… still took a few different tries, because non-Pokémonic fire was kind of a bitch to get started, but eventually Calem had managed. 

 

Once she was settled again, Calem brought out her party-- Oliver the Dartrix, Titan the Snorlax, Donkey Oatey the Mudbray, Lolly the Lillipup, Liza the Slowpoke, and Pearl the Trumbeak all settled around the little fire. Oliver, unsurprisingly, chose to stay further away from the fire than the others. That he pulled Pearl to huddle with him wasn’t surprising; the two birds had been friendly anyway, but after Pearl survived a non-resisted Z-move, the owl seemed to have a growing respect for the scrappy little bird. A bit more interestingly, Oliver decided to huddle against Donkey Oatey’s side. He hadn’t warmed up to any other Pokémon so quickly, but then maybe he’d heard Calem’s mumbling about the little donkey’s defenses? At any rate, the Mudbray didn’t seem to mind the birds cuddling at her back, and quickly dozed as well. 

 

Lolly was off to one side somewhere, chasing something and yipping quite a lot. In the city, Calem might be afraid that the puppy might wake the neighbors, but out here in the wilderness-- or relative wilderness, anyway, even if she was no more than a day’s walk from civilization at any point on these islands-- the worst she’d have to deal with would be other Pokémon from the route. 

 

Liza was laying across Titan’s stomach-- she couldn’t have gotten there on her own, so Titan must have put her there. They were sharing a small pile of Pokébeans, the Slowpoke occasionally licking one off the pile next to her, and Titan using its big claws to pick one bean out at a time, then eat it whole-- probably an odd experience for the recently-evolved Pokémon. 

 

Calem moved to sit next to the two birds and the donkey as they dozed. She couldn’t leave them out all night, of course, but it was nice to just relax like this for a while. She brought out a sandwich she’d packed and ate it, giving a crust to Pearl when the Pokémon stirred awake for a moment, but mostly just shared the space with her Pokémon. 

  
  


Liza died the next morning. Calem thought she was being careful, she did… 

 

An argument ahead stole away Calem’s attention-- and especially that she recognized one of the voices. 

 

“Are you even taking this seriously!?,” were the first words that Calem could make out clearly. 

 

“I am! I’m seriously enjoying it,” said Hau, and Calem could practically *** hear his grin through his words. 

 

The unfamiliar voice retorted, “Enjoying it?” Finally Calem rounded the corner and could see the-- blond emo boy, apparently, who was so angry at Hau. “You can  _ enjoy _ Pokémon battling when you’ve put everything you have into it-- which,  _ clearly,  _ you haven’t.” 

 

“Step off, kid,” Calem said, and both parties looked at Calem in surprise. 

 

The first to react was Hau, who said, “Calem! This guy is plenny scary, you know. Can’t beat ‘im on my own, but it sure was a fun battle!” 

 

The blond boy tilted his head and touched his chin in thought. “So, you’re Calem?” 

 

Squinting at the boy, Calem said, “Yeah, who’s asking.” 

 

The boy snorted. “Not terribly cautious, are you,” he said. “Most Pokémon have a better sense of self preservation than you do.” 

 

Calem stepped forward, putting herself between Hau and this new boy-- he was a little taller than she was, but was surprisingly thin. If it came to blows-- physical ones, not Pokémon-- she had little doubt she could take him in a fight. Of course, she also tended to be overconfident. “I have a  _ pretty _ good reason to disagree with that,” Calem said, a little more harshly than she really had any need to be, but something about being mean to Hau had her upset. 

 

Gladion took a step back from her-- he still looked as grouchy as ever, and Calem doubted if he even noticed he’d done so, honestly. “I’m Gladion,” he said then. “I battle for my partner, Null, to make them strong-- even if most of my time is taken up doing jobs for Team Skull…” The latter half of the sentence was a bit mumbled, and felt like an aside in a play. “And you?” he finally continued. “Do  _ you _ take battle seriously, then?” 

 

“You bet your  _ ass  _ I do, you little shit,” Calem said. It wasn’t fair to take out the pain of having lost another Pokémon on this poor edgy teen, but she glanced back at Hau-- not especially upset, but Calem was beginning to think Hau wouldn’t let on if he  _ was _ upset-- and her remorse spilled away. 

 

Gladion nodded, and said, “Battle me. I won’t take no for an answer.” 

 

With a barked laugh, Calem said, “Yeah, neither would I.” 

 

So they fought-- the boy had an unsurprisingly edgy assortment of Pokémon. Zubat, Zorua, and… Carlo couldn’t identify what the last Pokémon was, but Gladion called it ‘Null’ a number of times. Whether that was the species name or the individual nickname of Gladion’s Pokémon, it really was the icing on the edgelord cake. 

 

At least Calem didn’t lose any  _ more _ Pokémon today, especially not to this self-important child. He even said, “It’s not like me to slip up like that…” when he lost. “I’ve got to keep fighting stronger opponents, I’m… still not ready.” 

 

“Kid,” Calem said, “what you  _ need _ is a full party. Three Pokémon won’t cut it, even if one of them is--” She waggled her hand around in the air vaguely and continued, “whatever that was. I mean, yeah, battling more is good but you need a  _ team _ .” 

 

Gladion snapped back, “I  _ need _ to know my team, and focus on those I can reliably train.” Then he pointed in Hau’s direction, and said, “That kid there. His Pokémon aren’t weak. I think you know that as well as I do. And sure, it’s fine to enjoy battling, but this  _ brat _ is just using that as an excuse not to try hard, because he can’t beat the kahuna. Because he can’t beat Hala when he’s serious!” 

 

Calem blinked and looked at Hau, who put his hand behind his head and kind of shrugged. “You know my gramps, then?” Hau said. “And wait, what was that about me being strong?” 

 

“I said your  _ Pokémon _ are strong, not you, numbskull.” Gladion started to go on again, but was cut off by voices from the direction Gladion was blocking-- a masculine and a feminine voice. 

 

“Aww, little Gladion, such a cool guy, yelling at the kid who won’t fight back. Are you having  _ fun _ ?” a candy apple red-haired girl in full Skull getup said as she approached. 

 

The male grunt next to her had no visible hair, though his cap was pulled down far enough that it might have just been hidden. “No surprise that the rich kid too good to live with the  _ rest _ of us would be spineless too, eh?” He cracked his knuckles and looked between Gladion, Calem, and Hau. “Don’t worry, little  _ bro _ ,” he spat the word in Gladion’s direction, and a bit of spittle even landed on the blond boy’s nose. “We’ve got enough spine to cover fo you.” 

 

For a moment, Calem wasn’t sure who the grunt was implying he was gonna beat, the way he glared at Gladion-- but then he moved past the boy and into Calem’s space. 

 

She put up her arms in a defensive stance as the grunt reached for his belt-- whether for a Pokéball or a weapon, Calem never found out, because Gladion interrupted the action by saying, “Just give it up, you idiots. You know you can’t beat me, you’ll just get your Pokémon hurt. They’re good Pokémon, no fault of their own that their trainers are  _ you _ lot.” 

 

The grunts looked between themselves, glanced at Calem, then seemed to come to a conclusion. “Fuck it. This shit aint worth it,” the lady grunt said. “The murkrow are cryin’, and it’s time we should be flyin’.” She turned around and left without even waiting for her partner. 

 

“Listen, Gladion,” the male grunt said, and jabbed a finger in the boy’s direction. “Sure, the boss likes you, I’ll give ya that much. But you’re not part of la familia, y’hear? You gave  _ that  _ up when you turned your nose up at the mansion. Attack dogs get fresh meat, but that’s all you’ll ever be,  _ capullito _ .” 

 

Gladion didn’t turn to look at the man speaking to him, or even acknowledge that he heard. The grunt spat in his direction again, the followed his partner away. 

 

Calem sighed as the remorse came pouring back in. “Look, I’m so--” 

 

But that was as far as she got before Gladion said, “Did I  _ ask _ for your sympathy?” He took just a moment more to square his shoulders up, then trudged off in roughly the same direction as the grunts before him. 

 

There was a moment of silence between Hau and Calem. As usual, Hau recovered first. “Thanks, cuz,” he said. Oliver bristled by Calem’s side. “And you too, of course,” Hau hurriedly added, if with a chuckle. “You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it. You had a good battle too!” 

 

Clapping Hau on the shoulder, Calem said “No problem, kid.” Then she decided to pull him into a hug. Even if  _ he _ didn’t need it, she did, after how this morning had been going. After how this  _ week _ had been going, really.

 

He hugged her back, but protested, “I’m still not a kid, you know!” 

 

Calem gave him a noogie, and said, “Until you’re taller than me, you’re gonna be a kid to me.” 

 

In a moment Hau was free, and for the first time Calem had ever seen, he frowned-- though sticking his tongue out didn’t help his case about not being a kid. “I’m not gonna  _ get _ any taller,” he said. 

 

“You’ve still got a few years of growth, yet,” Calem said. “Guys don’t stop growing until they’re like, 20 or something, right?” Then she shrugged, and added, “And if you don’t… well, I guess you’ll just be a kid forever.” 

 

Hau huffed and looked like he had something to say-- which was strange, because usually he just said whatever was on his mind. “Well, anyway, I guess I’ve got to train a bit more before I take on Brooklet Hill,” he finally said. “I don’t think Pikapi’s type advantage will be enough to get through it, after all…” 

 

Calem nodded at that. “It’ll help a lot, sure, but raw strength is definitely a boon.” 

 

Hau laughed at that and agreed, then said, “Here, take these.” He handed Calem a bag, bulkier this time than the Pokébeans had been. “We’re gonna get through this island challenge, and we’re gonna do it together!” 

 

The bottles in the bag clinked together as Calem tried to get a good hold on one, then finally managed to pull one out-- and it was a Revive. “Thanks,” she said, trying not to sound too disappointed. It… should be useful to test whether or not her Pokémon were still truly dying every now and then, she supposed. Or perhaps she could sell them back to a Mart. Without the receipt, she’d be lucky to get anything, but… well, maybe. 

 

With one more wave, Hau ran ahead, leaving Calem in his dust. 

 

She sat down and tried to use one of the Revives on Liza, hoping the Slowpoke might… 

 

No such luck. 


	8. Brooklet Hill and Battle Royal(e)

In the past, Calem hadn’t cared much about trading Pokémon, unless she needed to do so to evolve her own, or helping a friend evolve theirs. Typically, the traded ‘mons were sent right back to their original trainer, one stage stronger, and everything proceeded as normal. 

 

A young boy in the Pokécenter, though, liked the look of the Lillipup that followed Calem in through the door. “Hey, wanna trade?” he’d said, and offered his Bounsweet.

 

An Alolan Pokémon Calem hadn’t seen yet, even-- and a Grass type, that would be helpful for Brooklet Hill’s upcoming trial. Calem assumed from the name that it would be Water-centric, so she rearranged her party to include her two electric types-- a Pom-pom style Oricorio named Florette and a Magnemite named Polarize-- as well as her Grass types, all--  _ two  _ of them?

 

That couldn’t be right. Calem went through the list of Pokémon in her PC a second time. Was Bouncee the Bounsweet really only her  _ second _ Grass-type? Her first being her starter, of course. Not that Calem needed grass coverage, clearly, but… Well, that left nothing for it but to bring neutral parties along. Titan seemed the best defensive bet, and… Calem hadn’t trained Bonecrusher, her Vullaby, for a little while. The hatchling had a strong enough attack to do some damage before she had to be switched out, probably. 

 

Then off she went to the trial. 

 

Lana was a cute little thing-- apparently twenty years old, just very short. “Did you know,” she said as she led Calem down to one of the pools, “I once fished up a Kyogre?” 

 

It took her a moment, but Calem said, “Bullshit. Tauros and Bouffalant and all of them, mixed together. Just a giant  _ mound _ of it.” 

 

The Captain laughed, and said, “That’s a new one,” and chatted a bit more about the water Pokémon of the area. After registering a Lapras on Calem’s Pager that allowed her to surf-- to more  _ classically _ surf, that was, as Calem had done in the League-controlled regions where Trainers were expected to find Hidden Machines-- Lana asked Calem to investigate some splashing in the middle of the pond. 

 

This early in the trial, Calem was logically sure it wasn’t anything troublesome-- but part of her remembered the frothing at the center of the Lake of Rage, viewed from above by a news helicopter-- the trainer that went out to investigate it, and the gigantic, blood-red Gyarados that reared up and attacked. 

 

That trainer took the creature down, and even captured it, without much trouble-- but Calem had never been the heroic type, the ones to take down the dragons, attack bad guys. 

 

So it was with trepidation as Calm directed her new Lapras buddy to the bubbles, hand growing shaky as she got closer and closer, until-- 

 

A single white fish Pokémon jumped out of the water, no more than ten inches long, and spat a Water Gun in Calem’s direction. 

 

Calem only blinked at the Pokémon that had drenched her. Well, that was… fairly anticlimactic. Bouncee took it out with little trouble. 

 

“It’s funny,” Lana said from across the way, “how such a little Pokémon can make such a big splash.” There was more than one shadow beneath the water, obvious by the way they scattered once the first fish fainted. Still, it really was something. 

 

The next pool was a little lower down on the scalloped slopes, connected to the previous by a small waterfall-- too small for Lapras, but plenty large for the several Wishiwashi that had fled the first attack. 

 

Finally, Calem made her way down to a large pool, only a few feet above sea level-- but entirely freshwater, as far as Calem could tell. Lana stood at the entrance to the area, and let Calem know that the trial was about to officially begin. ...It hadn’t already? Well, at any rate-- Calem steeled herself, healed her Pokémon, and surfed to the last bit of roiling water. 

 

Under the water, the familiar shadow of gathering Wishiwashi swelled, and… continued to swell… Calem wasn’t sure quite what she had been expecting to happen, but it certainly  _ wasn’t _ for the whole school of Wishiwashi to jump out of the water as one, schooling together and taking the shape of a much larger fish. 

 

_ Much _ larger. Totem Raticate had been large enough, standing at nearly five feet tall unlike the usual two, but the school of fish had to be eight feet from belly to back-- Calem didn’t even try to guess how long it was, from tail to tip. 

 

But… well, there was nothing else for it. Calem stood up on the Lapras and let Titan out of his ball-- smaller Pokémon she’d release on the Lapras, but he was simply too large. 

 

He soaked up some damage from the Wishiwashi and the Alomomola it called for help, as Calem tried to get a read on the moves the foe Pokémon had, what strategy she should use-- though eventually, she just got tired and put Oliver out to attack as much as he could, healing him whenever Carlo indicated he was even close to half health. 

 

And… she won. Calem won, without losing anyone. 

 

“Congratulations, Trainer!” Lana said, once Calem returned to shore. “For that impressive performance, I’ll also give you this-- a hand-made, one-of-a-kind, Lana original fishing pole!” 

 

Calem blinked as she accepted the gift. “Really? Wow, than--” and then Calem caught Lana’s grin, and she groaned. “You give one to everybody, don’t you.” 

 

Lana said, “That I do! Really do make them, though.” 

 

“Is that so?” Calem said. “Any particular reason, or just…” 

 

Shrugging, Lana said, “There’s not a whole lot that Captains need to do, really. So mostly, I hang out around here, make fishing poles, guide Trialers through the area, fish… it’s a nice life, but a quiet one.” 

 

Calem considered. “Mind if I visit you, sometime? Maybe hang out for a day?” 

 

Lana grinned at that. “Please do! I don’t get lonely, per sé, but I love when folks swing by.” 

  
  


Some kid had said something about Lana scaring those Sudowoodo, hadn’t they? The ones blocking the road back to Heahea and to the east? Calem rode the Pager Tauros back around, past Paniola Ranch-- briefly thankful for the Pager, given that she’d never have to worry about her ride dying in battle. She intentionally pulled the reins back a little harsher than usual, causing the Tauros to skid to a halt just before the -- copse? Of Sudowoodo. 

 

No reaction whatsoever. Well, that wasn’t an issue, it just would have been convenient. 

 

Calem released her newly-caught Wishiwashi. Tiny as she was-- apparently while they could School and be much more powerful, that only occurred when Wishiwashi were level twenty or stronger-- little Katy could still hold an item. 

 

Next, Calem started to do the dance that accompanied the Hydro Vortex Z-move-- and the Sudowoodo spotted the shining Crystal that the little fish carried between her little fins. The faux trees couldn’t seem to move fast enough at that, thankfully. Calem was a little worried she’d have to actually  _ use _ the move, and do whatever property damage that might entail-- but no, everything was fine. 

 

So Calem made her way south, preparing to turn east as soon as she could--

 

And was blocked by a gaggle of people and Pokémon. Two familiar-looking Team Skull grunts stood on one side, and a short girl with thick braids stood next to a… whatever Mudbray’s evolution was, probably-- on the other. Between the parties, a Drifloon floated, apparently the subject of much debate. 

 

The girl noticed Calem first. “Hey, Trainer. Help me with these ruffians, if you could?” 

 

Calem stepped up, but before she could say anything, Jay spoke up across the way: “Oy, it’s  _ you _ , bruv? Why do we keep runnin’ inta ya?” 

 

The girl looked at Calem again, this time with a grimace. “You’re on familiar terms with these scoundrels, these Pokémon thieves?” 

 

Scratching the back of her head, Calem said, “Uh, yeah, that one, Jay--” and she nodded to him-- “helped me out of a bad place, a while back.” 

 

Snorting a laugh, the braid-haired girl said, “Life in the big city sure is different. Pokémon thieves walk around brazenly…” She shook her head, then looked back at Calem. “I’m Hapu. I’ll leave that one to you,” Hapu nodded to the cyan-haired Cee, then continued, “and I’ll take this one,” and nodded to indigo-haired Jay. 

 

“We won’t go easy on you just ‘cause you’ve been nice!” Cee said, reaching for his Pokéball belt. “In fact, it’s kinda shitty to switch sides like this, right?” 

 

Calem shook her head. “Look,” she said, digging in her bag rather than reaching for her belt. “I know what it’s like to be in a rough spot. Can I convince you to let the Drifloon go for--” Calem pulled out her wallet and counted how much money she had-- while her hands were still in her bag, trying to be at least a  _ little _ discreet. Eventually, she said, “It looks like I’ve got P2500 on me, and some change if you want it. I’m-- not trying to encourage ransom, mind I just… know where you’re coming from, okay?” 

 

Cee and Jay looked at each other, then at Calem, then each other. Hapu openly stared at her assumed-battling companion as this all went on. 

 

Finally, Jay said, “Sure, why not. Pokémon was just to sell anyway, innit?” He grabbed the bills out of Calem’s hand, and the pair stomped off, leaving the Drifloon with Hapu and Calem. 

 

“...I suppose that’s one way to deal with them,” Hapu said, “though expensive, and encouraging further bad behavior.” 

 

“You ever been in a place where you’d rather risk everything than deal with it anymore?” Calem asked, not looking at Hapu. “I don’t know what those kids’ stories are, but they’re just… desperate kids, trying to do what they can to survive. No, stealing isn’t okay, of  _ course  _ it isn’t-- but do you see a lot of homeless shelters around Alola?” 

 

Hapu continued looking at Calem in consternation. Without an answer, Calem continued, “I don’t think I’ve noticed one  _ anywhere _ , honestly, except the Pokémon Centers, and those require legal identification. If you can’t be in the system for whatever reason, and you don’t know anyone to help you… you’re pretty much fucked.” 

 

As she spoke, it occurred to Calem that Lillie was in almost exactly the same situation that she was presupposing for the Team Skull grunts, that she’d been in herself just about a month ago. “Desperation makes you do… funny things.” 

 

Hapu shrugged. “Mayhap that’s the case. Stomping scoundrels seems a simpler solution, though.” 

 

“Oh, yeah, I forgot!” Calem said with a sneer. “Human fucking compassion is out, totalitarian dictatorship is in!” She spun on her heel and walked off without waiting for an answer. 

  
  


“Glad you could make it!” a familiar voice rang through the Battle Royal (e) Dome’s entrance hall. Calem looked up to see-- ...Professor Kukui, without even his lab coat anymore, wearing spandex pants with colorful designs on it, and an even more colorful mask that covered most of his head, leaving holes for the eyes and the area around his mouth. He didn’t bother hiding the distinctive goatee. 

 

“I’m here today to spread the word, yeah, about Battle Royal! Oh, yeah!” He continued walking toward Calem, apparently talking at least in her direction. “They call me… The Masked Royal! Whoo!” 

 

Still irritable from her confrontation outside, Calem said, “I’m  _ pretty  _ sure it’s supposed to be pronounced ‘roy-ale,’ with an e at the end, Professor.” 

 

“Who?” the man said, and repeated, “I am the Masked Royal!” He walked even closer to Calem, then, and for just a moment she doubted whether her guess was actually right. Then, “I’m here to teach you about a battle format passed down in Alola for generations…” 

 

Even with the extra verve he was putting in his voice for showmanship, nothing could disguise the sound of a Professor going on a tutorial rant to Calem, or at least her subconscious. She mentally powered down, barely taking in the information, nodding dumbly until the Professor was done. 

 

Oh-- at some point during his ramble, Hau had made it in here. Calem had seen Gladion enter the building before her, but hadn’t expected The-Masked-Professor to pick him out of the crowd. 

 

“And I’ll be in the mix, too, yeah” he said, “And now we have our foursome. Whoo!” 

 

Calem cringed at that. “Pr-- uh, Mask dude, can you not use that word?” 

 

He just looked at her for a moment, then laughed. “Try to aim for a little more child-friendly jokes though, yeah?” 

 

It wasn’t until Calem was standing in the Green Corner that it occurred to Calem what a monumentally terrible idea this was. Potentially three Pokémon could be attacking hers at once-- this was only a ‘free sample,’ as it were, so Calem had been told to choose just the one Pokémon-- but there was a very good chance that even Titan might die here, in the ring today. 

 

But Calem’s fears were-- not  _ unfounded _ so much as not realized. Hau’s Brionne, Poppy, focused on Rockruff, and  _ yes  _ while Null attacked Titan, not-the-Professor’s Rockruff attacked Null. Calem felt a little bad that she’d also had Titan attack the Rockruff, but following Poppy’s Water Gun, the Metronome-summoned Fire Blast was enough to knock out the little thing. 

 

A bell clanged, signaling the end of the match. Hau had done most of the work, but since Titan scored the knockout blow, technically Calem had even ‘won’ that little thing. 

 

Not-the-Professor gathered them all in the lobby, then, and said, “So what do you think? It’s easy to have a fun time with the Battle Royal! Whoo! You even have a shot at beating real tough opponents this way, yeah!” 

 

Calem snorted. “Yeah, I love the idea of being attacked on three sides, really just--” She caught a look from the professor, and the crowd milling around them. Not a large one, but there were probably some kids in the potential audience, anyway. “--Revs my engine, you know?” she finished, a bit lamely. 

 

Off to one side, an unfamiliar voice said, “You were on fire during that battle.” 

 

It was getting pretty old, people saying dramatic things before introducing themselves. This time, a dark-skinned young man stepped closer, and continued, “I hope you bring that fire with you and burn up my trial.” 

 

Calem turned to the newcomer and said, “Yes, Titan was literally on fire. I’d really rather not make that a repeat occurrence though, thanks.” 

*****

He laughed, and said, “I like your spark! The name’s Kiawe, and I’m the Fire Captain. Wela Volcano Park is just by Route 7. I’ll be waiting at the peak. Climb to the top with your strongest team!” And with that, he left. 

 

Calem commented to no one in particular, “I think I’ll go with my  _ wettest _ one, thanks.” Professor Mask shot her a look, and she blinked before saying-- “Hey! I didn’t mean-- type advantage was all I was trying to say.” 

 

Mask-form Kukui shook his head slightly, then said, “So, Hau and Calem, how are your trials going? I hope you and your Pokémon are working hard, and having a blast!” 

 

Hau took a sharp breath. “But Masked Royal,” he said, “How did you know we were on our Trials?” Calem just gave Hau a blank look. He blinked at her, and then grinned, saying, “Oh, right! Of course.” Calem let out a small breath of relief, until Hau said, “The Trial Amulets, of course. Kinda hard to hide those!” 

 

Calem just put her face in her hands. “Well, I’m definitely having a blast!” Hau said, and nudged Calem. “How about you, cuz?” 

 

Peeking between her fingers, Calem said, “Yeah, sure, you could… possibly describe what I’m going through as ‘having a blast,’ I guess.” More like ‘blasting off again,’ but that wasn’t  _ too _ far off. 

 

Hau moved away from Calem then, and said, “But why are  _ you _ here?” Calem looked up and-- oh, she hadn’t even realized Gladion was still around. He hadn’t really been a part of the conversation or even the group, just leaning on the wall nearby. “Why would you even wanna do Battle Royal?” Hau asked again.

 

Suddenly the center of attention, Gladion blanched a bit-- Calem wouldn’t have thought it possible for someone so pale to do so, but here it was-- and walked a few steps away. When he was facing away from the group, he finally said, “Because Null and I have to make it on our own. No one to depend on but ourselves…” He trailed off a bit breathily. Then he started again, with renewed energy, “And I don’t  _ ever  _ want to forget that.” Having said his bit, the boy walked off. 

 

Hau watched him go, and put his arms behind his head in a lazy stretch. “Well, he’s just a ray of sunshine, isn’t he?” Calem looked at Hau, then, a bit surprised at the sarcasm. Without moving his arms, Hau shrugged and continued, “I think he’d have a lot more fun if he just let himself have a good time with everyone else.” 

 

For a moment, Calem couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Hau…” she said, “I know he was an ass to you, but… you  _ did _ see what I did, right? With the other skull grunts?” 

 

Finally, Hau took his arms down, but gave yet another shrug. “I dunno, sounded kinda like he was mean to them to begin with.” Turning back to Royal Starter-Types Mask, Hau said, “Yeah, I dunno what his deal was, but I thought Battle Royal was just plain fun! Poppy seemed to like it too, so I’ll definitely be coming back here, sometime!” 

 

Goatee Mask seemed to be distracted, though, and it was a few seconds before he said, “Ah, yeah! Good to hear. Did you say that other boy was a part of Team Skull?” 

 

“I dunno,” Hau said. “I mean, maybe, but he’s not wearing the uniform so.” 

 

Masked Kukui stroked his beard in thought. “Should we bar him from the Battle Royal, too? Do we even know his name?” 

 

“Really?” Calem breathed an exasperated sigh. “Is he breaking any rules while he’s here? Or is looking vaguely punk-like a criminal offense, now?” 

 

The Professor looked at Calemine thoughtfully, but didn’t respond immediately. 

 

Before he could, Hau said, “Well, I think I’m off to train up for Kiawe’s trial. At the top of a volcano, cuz! It’s gonna be  _ awesome _ .” 

 

Calem couldn’t really argue with that. “Later, Hau!” She turned then to her masked colleague and said, “See you around-- uh, sir?” 

 

Out of the titles she’d come up with him over the past however-long, it was probably the one he’d most approve of, anyway. 


	9. Wela Volcano Park

Once, twice, thrice… With a click, the Pokéball successfully caught the Cubone. 

 

Carlo floated up in front of Calem, noting that he’d registered a new Pokémon. “The zzzkull it wearzzz on its head is that of its dead mother,” he read aloud from the entry in his archives. “According to zzzome, it will evolve when it comes to termzzz with the pain of her death. ” 

 

Blinking, Calem said, “Well, that’s a littler darker than necessary, isn’t it?” 

 

The Rotomdex moved his flexible lightning-bolt arms in something approximating a shrug. “That’zzz just what my archives zzzay,” he explained. 

 

Calem shook her head. “I thought that was just an urban legend, anyway? Like… the one thing from Lavender Town. Ghost story to tell at sleepovers.” 

 

Another shrug from Carlo, then, “What will you nickname thizzz Pokémon?” 

 

The Cubone in question was apparently male, so… well, even if it was ‘weird,’ Calem decided to name the little guy Lavender. It wasn’t a bad name, even aside from the ghostly reference. 

 

It was nice, here in Alola, that Calem could choose to keep the Pokémon she just caught and send one of her party members back to the box in its stead. Bonecrusher was one of the relatively few Pokémon that Calem had trained enough to be willing to take her on a trial. 

 

Despite her comment the previous day, Calem didn’t have enough water types to have a ‘wettest’ party. Katy the Wishiwashi she caught after the trial in Brooklet Hill was the only one still alive. Donkey Oatey was the other main type-advantage Calem had over fire, so she had filled the rest of her party in with Titan for his general health, Bonecrusher the Vullaby for general attack power, Dana the  second Alolan Meowth, and Oliver for general training. He wouldn’t be helpful against the Totem, obviously, but with how the Exp Share had been working for the past few years, she liked to keep him in her party so he’d get residual training, at least. 

 

Out of these the least useful was probably… Dana, maybe, since her typing was redundant with the Vullaby there. So the sleepy-looking cat was sent back, and Calem had another type advantage on her side. With a little fist-pump, she withdrew Lavender back into his ball, and continued to make her way to the trial site. 

  
  


“I am Kiawe,” the Captain said as Calem approached, up the last little slope to the summit. 

 

“So you said yesterday,” Calem said dryly.” 

 

Undeterred, Kiawe continued, “My Marowak and I are students of the ancient dances of Alola that have been passed down for generations.The trial of Kiawe… You will find that it is a bit different than the trials you’ve faced up to this point, but no less challenging! You will attempt it, of course?” 

 

The upward lilt of Kiawe’s voice seemed to call for a response, so Calem said, “Yyyes, that’s why I’m here. Let’s get on with it.” 

 

Rather than just finding and battling various weaker Pokémon, Calem was asked to tell the difference between two sets of dances. She was so focused on trying to find a difference somewhere in the routine itself, and unable to come up with an answer, that she just answered that the left Marowak’s dance was different. 

 

Unsurprisingly, her apparently-wrong answer initiated a battle with the Ghost-type Marowak. Donkey Oatey took it out without much trouble. 

 

She was shown the dance again, and-- ...oh. It was only the ending pose that differed. “Isn’t it a little  _ misleading _ ,” Calem complained, “to say that the  _ dance _ is different? The middle one stopped in a different place, but they all performed the same  _ steps _ as before. 

 

Kiawe gave her a deadpan look. “I said your task would be to spot the difference, and that there would be two dances-- not where the difference would be.” 

 

Rolling her eyes, Calem mumbled something about semantics. Then it was on to the next dance, and Calem paid close attention to the ending pose this time. The second dance started, and--

 

“Well, your hiker boyfriend photobombed, for one thing,” Calem said. “Can we do that again so he isn’t--” 

 

The Hiker interrupted, “Oh no, you’ve got me!” He was grinning, despite his tone. “Guess we have to battle.” 

 

Calem looked at Kiawe, then. “Is your boyfriend really a part of the trial?” 

 

Crossing his arms, Kiawe said, “David is not my boyfriend; he is, however, a part of the trial.” 

 

It wasn’t too hard to defeat Hiker David’s Magmar either, and Donkey Oatey even gained a level for her trouble. She was hurt a bit, but  it wasn’t enough to worry Calemine. 

 

After that it was time for the third dance. Calem didn’t even bother to look for details as the Marowak began their routine. It was nice, and she appreciated their skill with the witchfire-ended bone clubs, but-- well, of course it wouldn’t be  _ too _ hard; the trials were set up for children, after all. And the ending pose was very cute, too -- David the Hiker in the middle, hand raised in a static wave, with a Marowak on either side of him, with one Marowak closer to Calem and pantomiming taking a picture.

 

It was still hard not to be startled at the appearance of a massive lizard, all black and with a very jagged looking mouth. The Pokémon glowed, emanating a soft orange light that seemed to lick up its sides like ethereal flames. Much like the hiker before it, rather than looking like a planned part of the pose, the lizard was poking out from behind David, arms raised high, mouth open in an impossibly wide grin. 

 

“What is the difference, Calem?” 

 

There was a beat, and then Calem said, “Gee, I don’t know, maybe it could be that suspiciously huge lizard behind not-your-boyfriend.” 

 

Once Calem had wrapped her head around the second newcomer, it wasn’t much further to realize that it would be the Totem Pokémon. The other performers cleared the stage, and she got ready to fight. 

 

Donkey Oatey was first up in Calem’s party. Bulldoze lowered the speed of the Totem-- Salazzle, apparently, not to mention the decent chunk of damage it did. Toxic left Oatey Badly Poisoned, though, so even with Stamina she couldn’t stay out for long. Especially not when the Salazzle summoned a Salandit to help. 

 

The Salazzle was fast enough that one Bulldoze hadn’t been enough to make the little Mudbray faster than the Totem, and the Flame Burst that it shot off left the filly in less than great shape. Taunt from the Salandit didn’t do anything for now, all of Donkey Oatey’s moves at the moment were attacks anyway; but its very presence made the field a dangerous proposition. 

 

The toxic poison running through Oatey’s system took their toll again, worse than the first turn, and there was no longer any way that the little donkey could survive another round. 

 

Lavender took her place, then, and-- while the Flame Burst did not quite one-shot the little Pokémon, Salandit’s Venoshock -- even Resisted as it was -- ended up fainting the little thing. 

 

He’d never again see the light of day. “I guess I should have known better than to name him Lavender,” Calem muttered to herself, as she tossed out Titan’s Pokéball. 

 

Flame Burst came Titan’s way, and though he wasn’t hurt  _ too  _ badly by it, he did get a nasty burn on the arm he shielded his face with. Amnesia raised Titan’s Special Defense sharply, and the following Venoshock did very little at all. 

 

Figuring that eliminating extra damage quickly was the best priority, Calem directed Titan to (removed extra Chip Away here) alternately Chip Away at the Salandit-- which he managed in two attacks, thankfully-- and Amnesia, until his Special Defense was as high as it would go. He had just under half of his health by that point, but Flame Burst was doing hardly anything by that point, even the Burn was doing more per turn. 

 

A few more turns of Chip Away -- Calem was safe until Titan’s health would be fine, at this rate, until he was down to about a quarter, she could use a potion or drink then to its best effect. The Salazzle summoned another Salandit, but Titan was so close to winning, Calem could deal with the add later. 

 

And then Titan moved his arm down when the blast went up. Flame Burst’s Critical Hit didn’t give a shit about Titan’s mental walls. Quickly, Titan’s health bar on the Pokédex’s screen dropped, changing from pale green to yellow to orange to red--

 

To blank. The massive Pokémon fell backwards, and Calem took the few steps forward to gab one of his giant claws in her hand, petting his arm just before he dissolved into light, and was sucked back into the Pokéball. 

 

Katy the Wishiwashi still hadn’t broken level 20, as careful as Calem was trying to be with the fragile little thing, so she probably wouldn’t be useful here. Donkey Oatey was too badly hurt, and still poisoned even if not Badly Poisoned anymore, so… Bonecrusher came out, and Pluck managed to finish off both the Totem Salazzle and her Salandit attendant. 

 

“Spectacular!” Kiawe said, once Calem had withdrawn her Pokémon. “You noticed such slight differences in our dances, and defeated the Totem with ease!” 

 

Neither of those sentences rang any kind of true to Calem, but she was too numb to object, just now. Kiawe proceeded to give her the Firium Z reward, showed her how to use it, and even added a Charizard to her Ride Pager. Calem didn’t really hear most of what he was saying, but gathered that it took the place of the move Fly. That was nice, she… would like to pay her respects at the Cemetery again, maybe. 

  
  


No use dwelling on mistakes. Calem disposed of the broken Pokéballs of her dead Pokémon, replaced them with different party members-- the next trial was supposed to be Grass, and Flufflebuns the Cutiefly hadn’t been used since her part in Hala’s trial, so she would be a good member to have, as would Pearl. Including so many birds in her party, with a Dartrix and Trumbeak and Vullaby might not have been wise, but so far they seemed to be some of her best attackers. 

 

Mudbray’s Ground-typing wouldn’t do well in a grassy environment, but Donkey Oatey needed as much experience as she could get, if she was going to replace Titan as the party’s damage sponge. 

 

There wasn’t really another strong Pokémon to replace Katy the Wishiwashi when Calem deposited the fish, so she decided to try to train her Growlithe instead. It was still only level eleven, just the same as when she’d caught the dog, but if she could manage to get it up to spec in time to face the Grass trial, it could be very handy as a teammate. 

 

Once her team was settled, Calem went right on ahead, through the dividing peak tunnel. There were some odd shadows, which on investigation turned out to be Kecleon, but those were the only feature of any note between the smooth rock-hewn walls. 

 

Two figures were loitering at the other end of the tunnel, though. A feminine voice said, “What’s this? The numbers are suddenly climbing in my aura readings, and-- something else that the device can’t specify,” came wafting down the hall as Calem approached. 

 

About then, the couple seemed to notice the echoing footsteps, and Captain Moustache and Lady Bangs or whatever turned around to meet Calem’s eyes. 

 

“Ah, Calem, it’s you…” the woman said. “I bid you Alola.” Both of the blue-skinned people performed their rigid version of the rainbow Alola greeting. 

 

Calem didn’t reciprocate. “I don’t recall introducing myself to you,” she said, eyes trailing up and down on both of them, unsure what they were doing here. 

 

The man-- Ficus, or something like that-- twirled his moustache and looked at their surroundings, utterly ignoring Calem’s implied question. “This fine tunnel,” he said, “it’s quite astounding what grand things can be built, when using the capabilities of Pokémon in conjunction with humanity and our technology.” 

 

He looked towards Calem, then at his… lieutenant?, and back to Calem. “Trial-goers go through a great many things on their challenge,” the man said, “and face many Totem Pokémon. Perhaps it’s no surprise that such a Trainer would find themselves emanating the same energy, having come in contact with so many Pokémon that are awash with it themselves.” 

 

Calem raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, let’s go with that,” she said. If they came up with an answer that didn’t include leaky Infinity Energy from the Ultimate Weapon, Calem wouldn’t argue. 

 

“Given your presence here, young man,” Definitely-not-Dick-Dastardly said, “I presume you have more Z Crystals than last we met. Tell me, do you plan to master them?” 

 

Folding her arms, Calem said caustically, “No, I’m just doing this whole thing for shits and giggles.” Somehow, the statement was both sarcastic and true at the same time, but these chucklefucks didn’t need to know that. 

 

The Blue Man Group rejects took a moment to look at each other, then the man continued, “The wondrous light that appears when a Z-Move is used… We once had such light in our world as well. And it was precious to us, even if we did not use it in battle with our Pokémon…” His voice trailed off, and he seemed to be staring at nothing. 

 

Apparently Calem wasn’t the only one growing weary of this, as the woman said, “Captain Phyco, it is nearly time,” and Calem mentally kicked herself.  _ That _ was his name, well, Ficus wasn’t too far wrong, anyway. 

 

“Yes, yes, I suppose so,” Captain Phyco said, though he still sounded distracted. “We must go, Trainer Calem.” Then he and his companion repeated their sad attempt at an Alola gesture, and left. 

 

Calem still didn’t trust these weirdos. No one who looked like that could  _ possibly _ be up to anything good. 

  
  


The clerk behind the desk shook his head. “Sorry, hon,” he said, and Calem had to hold back a grimace, “we’re all booked up. This motel only has a few rooms, you know, and that skull kid has been in that room for… Oof, a couple years now, I think?” 

 

Calem balked at that. “Did you really say years?” 

 

“Yeah,” the receptionist nodded. “I thought Team Skull had their base on another island, or something, but he showed up and paid in advance. Used to tip a lot, too, but he hasn’t been so free with cash for a while…” 

 

As things clicked together in Calem’s mind, she asked, “Scrawny lookin’ kid, blond with emo bangs, does a weird thing with his hand?” 

 

The man startled. “Yeah, that’s him! So you know the guy?” 

 

Hmm. “Kiiind of?” Calem eventually answered, and waggled her hand in the air to further express her lack of certainty. “We had an-- interesting few encounters, anyway.” 

 

That earned a raised eyebrow from the clerk, but he just shrugged. “Well, he’s in room four, at the end, if you wanna go say hi.” 

 

What the hell. Calem walked down to the room and knocked. There was a sound of someone moving inside the room, approaching the door, and then it opened. Gladion stood there, and recognition lit his eyes, and he grumbled, “Go away.” While he didn’t invite her inside, he didn’t slam the door on her face, either. 

 

...Somehow, this was exactly what Calem expected, while also leaving her not sure what to do. On the other hand, poorly thought out plans  _ did _ tend to leave her flailing uncertainly. “Look, kid,” she said, “I just-- wanted to apologize or something, I think. I didn’t mean to take out my problems on you, especially since it looks like you’ve got enough of your own.” 

 

Gladion grunted. “I told you, I don’t want your damned sympathy. Are you done?” His bangs hid half of his face, but the one eye that was visible bored into her, a green as bright as the new growth of spring. 

 

Calem took a deep breath, and let it out, considering what she was even here for. “Do you have a phone?” she asked, then dug in her bag for a piece of paper, then began writing on it. “I don’t need your number, that’s fine I don’t want to pry, but if you ever need someone to talk to…” She tore the written-on corner off and handed it to Gladion, who seemed suspicious but took the scrap anyway. “I’ve been keeping my Holo off most of the time for… well, personal reasons,” Calem said, “but I should probably not do that anyway. And being on the whole Trainer circuit for approximately the ten millionth time, my sleep schedule’s just kind of permanently fucked. Call any time, I literally do not care. The worst I’ll ever do is not answer, because I’m a bit busy.” 

 

Gladion still didn’t respond. 

 

“Or don’t,” Calem continued rambling, “that’s also fine. Just wanted to offer, I’ll be getting out of your hair now.” And with that, she turned around and walked away. 


	10. Lush Jungle and Diglett's Tunnel

Calem looked down at the Forage Sack that Mallow handed her. “I really don’t need this,” the trainer said, “I’ve got plenty of pockets in my bag, and already have the mushroom and the revival herb, besides.” 

 

Mallow shook her head and tutted. “That’s now how the triiial goes~” Mallow said, with a sing-song lilt to her voice. “And besides, the stew just isn’t going to work if we use old ingredients. They need to be fresh-picked -- and can’t smell like plastic, of course. That wouldn’t do at all!” 

 

This little outburst made Calem raise her eyebrows in disbelief, but she shrugged. Rules were rules. So Calem got on the ItemFinder-Stoutland and went a-searching. 

 

Next to the fresh Tiny Mushroom was an Alolan Pokémon, Shiinotic according to Carlo the ever-helpful Rotomdex. Of course ti was, these trials couldn’t just be puzzles, they had to also include battles. Which made them essentially like the Gym Battles she’d grown used to in other regions, but it was disappointing here because the Trials were supposed to be so strange and unfamiliar. There was more  _ to _ them, sure, but… Calm shrugged. There was really only so much you could do with a challenge that included Pokémon battles, she supposed. 

 

Revival herb was easy enough to find. The next ingredient crossed off the list was a Mago Berry, dropped by a Fomantis that attacked her almost immediately. Nice, nice. After that… nectar from flowers in a particular clearing. No Pokémon seemed around right now, but Mallow had warned her that certain bushes may have been claimed by Pokémon, which may come to attack later. After looking at all the bushes, the only one that seemed promising was one that hadn’t quite bloomed yet, for the most part; there was enough nectar for Calem to gather, but it wouldn’t be a useful thing to claim for a little while. 

 

Apparently, there were trees in this jungle that looked like Sudowoodo, but also actual Sudowoodo. Calem wasn’t sure that she believed in such a thing-- in all her years of journeying, Sudowoodo never seemed to even vaguely resemble the surrounding flora. But Mallow said it was true, and that she could find a Big Root under one. If she disturbed a Pokémon rather than an inanimate tree, it might attack now, or perhaps later, it was hard to be sure.  So Calem stared hard at the trunks of the short tree-like-things as she walked down the path where they grew, and… they all looked fake as shit. Mallow had to be pulling her chain. They moved, if only in the corner of her eye, or made some kind of sound, or just looked too glossy. Calem moved from one to the next, staring hard at each of them. If she couldn’t figure out which ones were trees (if any) and which were Pokémon, she could at least try to pick the Pokémon that was best at hiding its true nature. 

 

The Miracle Seed was the hardest to find. Somehow, it ended up being in the rubble left behind when Tauros cleared some boulders, a little past the Sudowoodo Grove.

 

Finally, though, Calem returned to Mallow. “Ah, great! You’ve found everything! Now all we need is…” 

 

Mallow paused dramatically, but nothing happened. She cleared her throat, and said a little louder, “ _ Now all we need is… _ ” 

 

There was a scuffling sound from near the entrance to the Lush Jungle, and something that sounded like ‘that’s our cue.’ A moment later, Lana and Kiawe came out into the open, and the latter said, “I’m sorry to make you wait.” 

 

“Thanks for dropping by!” Mallow said with a wide grin. “Do you have what I asked for?” 

 

They both nodded, and gave Mallow what they’d been carrying-- a few bottles of Fresh Water from Lana, and a Thick Club and Rare Bone from Kiawe. 

 

“Now,” Mallow said, “let’s get cookin’ by the book!” Narrating as she went along, the Grass Captain put the ingredients into the pot one by one-- waiting a moment after each one before continuing. “And finally,” she said, at last, “it’s finished… with one last pinch of my super-secret special spice!” Mallow took a small jar of something out of her pocket and sprinkled it on the surface of the stew, mixing it in with the Thick Club, as she had done with all the other ingredients. Then, “Ta-dah! The Ultra Mallow Special!” Mallow leaned forward over the large pot, and took a deep sniff. “It’s all done, and it smells  _ delicious _ .” 

 

It was much too spicy for Calem’s nose, not to mention generally bitter and a little too earthy for food. It was all Calem could do not to cough for about a minute. When she managed to look up to see Lana’s or Kiawe’s reactions, they were no longer paying attention to Calem or the stew, instead looking past her at-- 

 

“Ah!” Mallow yelled happily. “Our guest of honor has arrived!” 

 

Calem slowly turned around to find the Totem Lurantis looming over her, segmented arms poised and ready to strike. “Holy  _ shit _ , she said, and just managed to get a Pokémon out before fumbling and dropping its ball. 

 

Thank Arceus and everything else in the world, Donkey Oatey wasn’t the first in her party. The first move the Lurantis used was Sol Blade -- which Carlo informed her that was able to move in one turn because the Totem was holding a Power Herb. So a physical-attack move to parallel Solar Beam, probably. It was strong enough that even as a neutral hit, it might have knocked an opponent flat in one shot, depending on their level-- but no, Flufflebuns resisted the Grass attack, and took it like a champ. While she had to switch out when the Totem Lurantis summoned a Trumbeak, between Pearl and Bonecrusher, soon enough the Totem was out cold, and Calem hadn’t lost any more Pokémon. 

 

“Huh!” Mallow said, once the creature had fallen. “You were really able to draw out the flavor of your Pokémon in that battle! The Totem bowed right down to you, too.” 

 

Calem stifled a snort, saying, “I think that was more like a coup de gras than willingly bowing, but I’ll take it.” 

 

Kiawe put his hand to his chin and closed his eyes in thought. “Even back at Wela Volcano Park,” he said, “the vaunted Salazzle never stood a chance.” 

 

“I lost two good Pokémon to your ‘ _ vaunted _ ’ Salazzle if you didn’t--” Calem snapped, before she realized what she was admitting. 

 

All three captains looked at her oddly for her outburst. “S-sorry,” Calem finally said, and glanced around for something to change the subject-- “Hey, it looks like the Lurantis didn’t eat all of the stew,” was all she came up with. 

 

It seemed to work, though, with the sudden shine Mallow’s eyes had. “Oooh,” the Grass Captain said, “delightful! Lana, Kiawe, you should have some!” 

 

Both of the other captains looked almost as shifty as Calem had. “I’m full. I, ah, just ate a berry,” Kiawe said, “but thanks.” 

 

Lana said, “And, well, the flavor of that is calibrated for a Pokémon’s taste buds, right?” She eyed the pot dubiously. “Why don’t we just leave that for the next time the Totem is hungry?” 

 

Mallow looked at Lana and said, “Really? Huh. Whenever I make it for Olivia, she says it’s delicious.” Mallow turned to look at Kiawe this time. “I know the last time I had you guys try some it was spicy, but you got most of the seeds at the bottom of the bowl. It wouldn’t be so hot this time!” 

 

Both of the other captains shook their heads no. Mallow turned to Calem then, and said, “Can I assume you also don’t want any, Calem?” Calem mimicked the other two. “Oh well, your loss!” Mallow said, then went back to take the large pot. “Guess I’ll take this to Olivia, then. Seeya at the grand trial, Calem!” 

 

Shortly after Mallow left, Kiawe followed-- but Lana stuck behind. “Congratulations on besting all three of Akala’s trials,” she said. “Do you know where to go from here?” 

 

Calem shrugged. “Not especially, but I’m pretty sure Carlo will tell me.” 

 

The Rotomdex floated out from Calem’s side and said, “Two stepzzz ahead of you, friend! Let’s see…” He brought the map up on his screen, which centered on the southern cape of the island, and zoomed in. “Olivia’zzz gem shop is in Konikoni City, south of Diglet’zzz Tunnel!” 

 

Lana laughed lightly at that, and said, “My, those new Pokédexes sure are handy.” 

 

Before she could continue, Carlo pitched in, “I’d be handier if I actually  _ had _ hands!” He waved his lightning bolt arms, notably missing anything resembling fingers, for emphasis. 

 

Once she was finished laughing, Lana continued, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it as far south as Konikoni, but if I’m there I’ll be sure to catch your match against Olivia, all right?” 

 

Calem grinned, and said, “I’d love to see you there!” 

  
  


At first, the anomaly had just looked like a meteorite, a little brighter than usual as it streaked across the sky. But the light didn’t fade-- if anything, it got brighter, and the stars behind it seemed to… ripple? Calem took a step back as she watched, not sure whether she should be running or recording the thing. Before she’d made up her mind, though, the light was fading again, and the rippled died down. 

 

So, this was…  _ probably _ what Burnet had meant when she asked Calem to keep an eye out, wasn’t it? But maybe it was something to do with the Arceus-damned Ultimate Weapon’s residual energy from last winter, and… well, nothing had  _ happened _ with the Thing In The Sky, it just showed up, looked around, and noped the fuck out. Calem could imagine how that meeting would play out: ‘Hey, Doc Burnet, I saw something that looked kind of like a crack in the sky, with curvy waves coming off of it, here let me draw it for you-- no, I didn’t  _ mean  _ to make it look like a vagina, I promise I’m not joking. Still don’t have any actual data for you, though.’ 

 

Calem shook her head. Yeah, let’s not do that. 

  
  


“Nebby, u-use Splash!” It was unmistakably Lillie’s voice that floated over the Dimensional Research Lab’s courtyard wall, even if Calem hadn’t had the context of knowing Nebby. 

 

Calem leaned over the wall, watching Nebby… huh. Was the little Pokémon trying to use Splash as asked, or was she blithely ignoring Lillie’s commands? Calem couldn’t tell either way. Was Splash even a move that-- Cosmog, was it?-- could learn? She shook her head in amusement before saying, “I thought you didn’t like battling, Lillie.” 

 

The girl jumped in surprise, and looked sharply behind her. “C-Calem!” she stuttered. “I was, well, I was just pretending like I was… strong, like you and Hau.” She was hiding her hands behind her back and looking down at her shoes, already starting to blush. 

 

Calem came around the wall, then, and said, “Oh Lillie, it’s fine! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, it was cute.” 

 

Lillie shook her head, still looking down, and said, “You’re… fine, Calem. I was just-- I worry about Nebby, she always seems to get hurt, but you and Hau… you’re so strong, self-reliant, and watching the two of you, I-I’ve found myself considering… a lot of things I hadn’t thought possible, before.” 

 

Calem couldn’t help but smile, and patted Lillie’s shoulder affectionately. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “How’re you doing, anyway? I feel like it’s been awhile since I saw you last.” A few weeks, probably? Wow, time really did fly. 

 

“I’m all right,” Lillie said. “We still haven’t found out much about Nebby, yet. Professors Kukui and Burnet have both been very busy, so I haven’t gotten around to visiting the Ruins of Life yet… I’m not sure why, but I think Nebby felt, uh,  _ something _ that she wanted to see at the Ruins of Conflict in Melemele, and I wanted to take her there to see if that made anything clearer.” 

 

“I see,” Calem said, and looked up the Ruins of Life on Carlo’s Map function. “Oh, hey!” she said, louder this time, “I’m actually heading to Konikoni for my Grand Trial. Would you like to come with me, and I could walk you to the ruins?” 

 

Lillie’s eyes lit up at this, gleaming in the evening sun like peridots, and she said, “Oh,  _ would _ you? Only, uh, if you don’t mind, of course.” 

 

This got a laugh from Calem. “Of course I don’t mind!” she said, “I wouldn’t have offered if I minded.” 

 

“O-oh, I’m sorry,” she said, “I just wanted to be sure.” 

 

Something about the way Lillie was looking at Calem right now, about her stance and the slightly fearful expression, made Calem want nothing more than to wrap her in a blanket burrito and watch terrible romcoms with her for a week. For now, she settled for touching the girl’s shoulder to get her attention, then held her arms out for a hug. 

 

Calem was a bit surprised when Lillie took the offer, but certainly wasn’t complaining. 

 

***** 

Lillie was very obviously not well-suited to spelunking, as worried as she was about any bit of dirt that got near her white dress, and the amount of times she stumbled on the uneven rocky path. 

 

“Sorry,” Calem said at one point, “I didn’t think to ask if you had any flats. I know those are just kitten heels, but still…” 

 

But even with the discomfort Lillie had shown for the few hours they’d already been in the tunnel, Calem was surprised when Lillie jumped and about fell backwards into her. When Lillie regained her footing, she dragged Calem back a few feet. “I-I-I can’t let them see me,” she said in a whisper. 

 

A stone dropped into Calem’s stomach, seeing how frightened Lillie suddenly was. She stepped around the girl and looked past the curve, not sure what to expect. 

 

It certainly didn’t match what she saw, though. Calem had to go back and ask Lillie to be sure, “The only people I see are the Aether employees, is that--”

 

Lillie nodded insistently, raising a finger to her lips. Then she said continued to whisper, “Th-they-- they’d take me back to… well, I c-ca-can’t…” 

 

More quietly than before, Calem said, “Shh, it’s okay, you don’t need to explain.” Slowly, she put an arm around Lillie’s shoulders-- and when Lillie didn’t move away, hugged the younger girl to herself. 

 

About a minute of hugging later, Calem said, still quietly, “If you’d like, I can see what they’re here for, see if I can’t get them to go away.” 

 

Lillie nodded to that, so Calem went. 

 

The two workers in white were talking between themselves, but didn’t take long to notice Calem approaching. “Oh! Alola!” the girl said, “We’re members of the Aether Foundation. Our main focuses are environmental and Pokémon conservation efforts.” 

 

“Alola yourself,” Calem said in her best cheery voice, “What’re you folks doing here, then? Is something going on?” 

 

The young man snorted. “Team Skull have riled up the Diglett here, so the Pokémon are attacking folks way more than normal. The tunnel was nigh impassable for a while there, until Olivia stepped in to direct things.” 

 

The girl shrugged and said, “Kind of makes you wonder where Branch Chief Faba was this whole time, but you didn’t hear that from me.” 

 

Chuckling, Calem said, “I literally don’t even know your name, so I certainly won’t spill. But about the Diglett-- does that mean it’s not safe to continue?” 

 

They both shook their heads. “You’re fine now, we’re just doing our last inspection to make sure the Diglett are back to normal. You can go right on ahead, ma’am.” 

 

Calem bit her lip in thought, but as the Aether employees stepped aside to let her pass, she didn’t have much time to react without looking strange. “Say, I’m one of Professor Kukui’s Pkédex holders,” Calem said, and gestured to Carlo-- who helpfully floated up and waved. “Would my word that there weren’t many Diglett from the Heahea entrance to here be good enough?” 

 

They looked at each other, then shrugged. “Sounds good enough to me,” the guy said. 

 

“And I’d just as soon get back to the boat,” the girl added. “We left it docked at Konikoni, and I don’t want something to happen to it. I’d be fired in a  _ heartbeat _ , you know?” She chuckled. “Not that I expect something to, it’s a nice city, but I think I heard that the Ditto Five were getting up to their tricks again, so…” She shrugged. 

 

The dude looked at Calem then and said, “Hey, would you like us to accompany you to the Konikoni entrance? I assume that’s where you’re headed, anyway.” 

 

“Uh--” Calem blinked, trying to think… “I’d actually like to take my time to catch a few Pokémon and train,” she managed. The best excuses were the ones that were actually true, after all. “The Diglett here in Alola are also Steel type, right? That sounds like it would be  _ hella _ useful in my Grand Trial battle against Kahuna Hala.” 

 

They both chuckled at that. “Well, have a good one, Trainer,” the girl said, as they walked off. 

 

Calem waited for a few minutes, battling a couple Diglett when they appeared, and even managed to catch one, before she went back to fetch Lillie. 

 

“You doin’ okay?” Calem asked when she made it back to her traveling companion. 

 

Lillie nodded, but didn’t seem able to manage any words. 

 

Calem reached over and patted Lillie’s shoulder, and said, “Whenever you’re ready is fine.”

  
  


“Fuckin’ shit!” echoed down the tunnel a bit. Calem was surprised to notice that she’d flinched more than Lillie had. 

 

Well, if Lillie was fine, then Calem’s morbid curiosity needed to be sated. She started trotting to see what the issue was, though she stopped once she turned the corner and could see the person who’d yelled. 

 

A Team Skull grunt with seafoam green hair to his shoulders kicked at the ground. “Just when things were startin’ to heat up, yo, I got surrounded by Diglett and beat up, yo!” 

 

The… feminine(?) looking grunt next to him with pale purple hair sighed and nodded, and did something with… their? hands that Calem couldn’t see. 

 

“Yo,” seafoam dude added, “Since when can Diglett use Beat Up!?” 

 

He kicked the ground again, then seemed to spot Calem as Lillie walked up behind her. “I’m so mad now, I kinda wanna beat up on some fools. Don’t be mad that you’s the fools who’s dumb enough to be here right now.” 

 

Lillie didn’t look scared, which was good, but Calem wasn’t sure if she-- well, the look that the lavender-haired grunt gave him might mean that this wouldn’t be a two-on-one situation, so maybe Calem  _ could _ handle it. 

 

On the other hand, from behind, Hau’s voice echoed down the tunnel: “Lillie, what are  _ you _ doing down here!?” His footsteps thudded louder and louder until he skidded to a stop. “Oh, Calem too! I was wondering what you’d been up to, and you’re having fun with Team Skull without me!” 

 

The male Skull grunt huffed. “You wanna piece a this too? Then fine! This is how we punks say hello!” He gestured at the lavender-haired grunt. They didn’t respond for a moment, at which the green-haired dude looked at her sharply and gestured again, more insistently. 

 

Lavender hair sighed, and got up to join the battle. 

 

Each grunt only had one Pokémon each-- as usual, Calem realized-- which were only a Fomantis and a Salazzle. Calem honestly  _ could _ have finished them off without much trouble on her own, but with Hau’s Poppy to help out, all Calem had to worry about was if the Fomantis would attack the Brionne-- and wondering how far Calem’s Aura of Death extended. 

 

But it was over soon enough. 

 

“Are we headed to the grave, yo?” Greenie asked when he lost. “Will our bones be laid bare, yo?” 

 

Lavender just gave Green a baleful look, and did some maneuvering with their hands that ended with a raised middle finger. When Calem started to chuckle, though, they shot Calem an equally withering look. 

 

Green scoffed at whatever it was Lavender had done--said?--to him, then turned to Calem and said, “Yo, quit it with the beatin’, yo! All’a you do-gooders, gettin’ in the way of Team Skull just for the hell of it, ‘cause we don’t fit in or nothin’.” 

 

Calem folded her arms over her chest and said, “I have literally only fought Team Skull folks when I was challenged out of nowhere.” 

 

Salty-as-Seafoam dude spat in Calem’s direction. “Yeah, sure, I’ll believe that when Pignites fly.” 

 

Hau, for his part, said, “I mean, I guess I’ve tangled with you guys a few times, but you’ve always been pretty fun to battle, so.” 

 

Al that earned was a glare from Green With Envy. Calem realized belatedly that Lavender was using sign language to communicate to Seafoam Dude. Unfortunately, they were blocking the tunnel to do so. 

 

“Look, sorry for making a shitty day worse,” Calem said as she stepped up to the pair. “To be fair, you brought this on yourself, but whatever. I just need to get through here, and you’re out of Pokémon. There’s not much more you can do to me, so could you please  _ move _ ?” 

 

Lavender started to scuffle away, but Seafoam grabbed their hand to keep them where they were, then squared up his shoulders as he looked at Calem. “Yo, whatcha gonna do about it?” 

 

Seafoam Hair Dude was a good few inches taller than her, but not very stocky. Calem, on the other hand, had been running around regions, climbing mountains and jumping ridges and occasionally rock climbing when she got really desperate -- all for the better part of eleven years. 

 

So when Calem took a step back, she could understand why the guy started to snicker. Why it looked like she was backing down. But no, she was testing her footing, making sure she was stable, before she threw her punch-- right to the gut wasn’t terribly sporting, but it was effective. Greenie doubled over in a coughing fit, Lavender dropping down to try to help him. 

 

Calem gestured to her two traveling companions-- both shocked and at least a little dismayed it looked like, but oh well-- and started to step around the pair of grunts. 

 

Apparently, though, Greenie had had enough strength left in him to grab Calem’s ankle, and trip her. She fell flat on her face, and when she sat up, could feel the blood dripping down from her nose and lips. 

 

“That really how you wanna play it, you asshole?” Calem said, getting to her feet. Greenie was still crumpled on the floor, but Lavender was now looking her way with anger in their eyes. 

 

“Fine,” Calem spat. “You  _ really  _ want a beat down, you got one.” As she started to walk torwards the pair of grunts again, Calem caught Hau’s eye, and cocked her head as discreetly as she could towards the tunnel the grunts had been blocking. Hau took Lillie’s hand and started walking around the fight with her, slowly, not drawing attention. 

 

Meanwhile, Calem focused on the Team Skull kids. The lavender one was certainly more fit than the seafoam-haired one. Even at a full head shorter, they were clearly the more dangerous of the two, now that Calem had earned their ire. 

 

From the way they moved, Calem also guessed they’d actually learned how to fight, karate or boxing or something. Calem hadn’t learned any particular style, per sé, so much as she just lost track of any kind of honor code she had when she was angry enough. Punches were acceptable as always, but so was hair-pulling, biting, below-the-belt strikes, tossing dirt at her opponent’s face-- whatever could give her a leg up. 

 

Honestly, Lavender Hair was a better fighter, and probably should have won their little match. They seemed to tire out after a while, though-- and as Calem looked around to see that Hau and Lillie were gone, she realized she had no idea how much time had passed. In one of the more and more common breathing moments, Calem wiped her nose and mouth with the back of her hand, and didn’t come away with any fresh blood-- or even feel the sting of the open wound. Confused, Calem ran her fingers across her lips again… She could’ve sworn she’d gotten a split lip from that fall, at the very least, but apparently not. Huh. 

 

Greenie had joined the fight again, at some point, Calem wasn’t sure when. All she was sure of was that he slumped over again, and said, “Fine, yo! Fuck. You win, just get outta here.” 

 

Breathing heavily-- but more exhilarated on the adrenaline high than tired-- Calem stared at the pair of grunts for a moment. “You dumbasses brought this on yourselves,” she said, then turned on her heel to  _ finally _ get to Konikoni City, hopefully. 


	11. Memorial Hill and the Ruins of Life

Calem crumpled the Probopass’ note and stuffed it into her pocket, before walking to look over Lillie’s shoulder at whatever stones the shorter girl was looking at. “Convenient news,” she said, and Lillie jumped. 

“S-sorry,” Lillie said, “I didn’t realize you were right behind me. And, ah, convenient…?” 

Shrugging, Calem said, “I don’t know that it really qualifies as good news, but I guess Olivia had some Kahuna Business to attend to. May take a while, so I’ve got time to kill until then -- I’d probably have ended up going to the Ruins of Life even without you and,” Calem glanced meaningfully at the duffel bag, “our mutual friend wanting to see it.” 

Lillie nodded, and said, “I see, that’s… something.” som

Calem shrugged again. “Convenient, at least. So, was there anything you were wanting?” 

Color rose to Lillie’s face, then, and she said, “O-oh, no, not really, I was just admiring the pieces. They’re quite beautiful, Olivia is very skilled at what she does.” 

Each piece of jewelry really was a work of art, and Calem couldn’t find any two that were the same. Not quite centrally displayed was a thin gold chain with several smooth, dark purple stones set at regular distances apart, getting larger as they approached the middle. The centerpiece of the necklace was a large opal, a deep indigo with rainbow flecks that wove a sparkling aurora through the stone, shifting at the slightest change in perspective. 

Calem pointed to it, and said, “That one reminds me of Nebby, honestly.” 

An intake of breath to Calem’s side was the only response she got for a moment, until, “Oh, my. Yes, I can definitely see that.” 

“Would you like it?” Calem prompted, checking the price tag and doing some mental math. She didn’t quite have the P60,000 at the moment, but Calem also hadn’t sold the pearls or nuggets she’d found in her travels for a while… And, well, the P7000 asked for a fossil in this self-same shop wasn’t going to happen, either. Not that Calem particularly needed a large chunk of rock to weigh her down as she traveled, and much as she liked Fossil Pokémon, she didn’t want to revive one just to kill it again. No new clothes for a while either, but she’d only just bought these in Hau’oli a few months ago, so no loss there… 

Lillie interrupted Calem’s thoughts with, “It’s so expensive, I could never afford it...” 

Calem took a hold of Lillie’s arm and said, “Nah, I was offering to buy it for you.” She smiled and leaned in a little, looking into Lillie’s sweet green eyes. 

“No!” Lillie said, then, a little louder than Calem had expecting. “No, I couldn’t possibly ask that of you, you’ve done so much for me already… I-I couldn’t ask you to buy me something that’s completely useless, just pretty. I’m… useless enough as it is.” 

At first, Calem had been a little hurt by Lillie’s sharp refusal, but that quickly turned to sympathy as it became clear what Lillie’s actual issue was. “No, hon! Lillie, you’re… you help keep Kukui safe and sane, and you’re trying to help Nebby get home. You’ve been helping Burnet around the lab, too, right?” Lillie nodded, though she still looked unhappy, and Calem went on. “Just because your talents don’t lie in Pokémon battles doesn’t mean you’re not worth something.” Calem brushed some of Lillie’s hair behind her ear, then left her hand on Lillie’s cheek. “You’re an absolute treasure, Lillie, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you.” 

Lillie stepped back, pulling away from Calem’s hand, and turned away. “Thank you for the offer of the necklace,” she said after a moment, “but no thank you.” 

It occurred to Calem she’d possibly gone too far, then. “All right,” she answered, “no problem. Just remember that we, Hau and Kukui and Burnet and everyone… we all care about you, okay?” There, maybe that made it less creepy and awkward. Calem hadn’t even realized she’d been nursing a crush on Lillie until their faces had been so close, until she’d wanted to move her and to behind Lillie’s neck and pull her into a kiss. 

Of course, it was better that Lillie hadn’t been into it, even if it hurt. Better to sting now than to feel so crushed by the pressure of it all that she had to go halfway ‘round the world to get out from under, and even then the shadow of it kept finding her anyway… 

“Are you okay?” Lillie asked, looking at Calem with concern. “You look ill, do we need to go to the Pokémon Center?” 

Calem shook her head. “Nah, I’m fine. Let’s just head on out to the Ruins, then, eh?” 

As they’d done through Diglett’s Tunnel, though, Lillie and Calem didn’t rush through as quickly as possible. Calem stopped to battle other trainers about their business, and the wild Pokémon that appeared. Pele, the Diglett Calem had caught in the Tunnel, ended up dying here -- a shame, since its Ground and Steel types both would have been very useful against Olivia’s Rock-type specialty. At least, Calem assumed that’s what she had-- owning a rock shop and a Probopass, and all. 

Lillie didn’t mind, she said, so Calem even backtracked from Akala Outskirts to Memorial Hill to train Wolfgang, the Stufful she’d just caught to replace Pele. Being partially Normal type, he’d be immune to Ghost-type attacks, so it would be fine. 

Calem hadn’t thought much about sending him out against the various trainers, too. She’d thought he was fine, he had plenty of health-- and then the Ariados managed a five-striky Fury Attack, and the little teddy bear was down. 

Oliver came in, then, to avenge him-- even if he hadn’t actually had a chance to know the Pokémon. 

Once she was finished with the battle, though, Calem walked just far enough away to not be seen by her opponent, and had to sit down and cry. 

“C-Calem, are you hurt?” Lillie said, standing over Calem and looking an awful lot like she didn’t know what to do with her hands. 

Sniffling, Calem said, “No, not-- not really. I just…” She took a breath, then patted the ground next to her for Lillie to sit down. 

The other girl shuffled a bit, but didn’t sit. Right, the whole white dress thing. 

“I just--” Calem started again, had to take another breath. “I had a friend, a few years ago in Unova. Very friendly guy, soft around the belly, but strong, you know the type?” Lillie shook her head no, and Calem sighed. “Well-- he was definitely a hugger, so the first time I saw a Bewear on the Come To Alola brochures, I-- I couldn’t help but think of him.” Not to mention that he was kind of hairy, gay as shit, and loved puns to the point that he’d have loved having a literal-bear named after him. 

After a few moments of contemplative silence, Lillie prompted, “Oh, I’m sorry that training Stufful is… harder than you thought?” 

Calem shook her head. “H-he actually, ah, died before I moved away, and… I should h-have known better than to name something after him, I guess.” 

Lillie blinked, then said, “Oh, yes, I can see why you might be emotional about that. But this-- Wolfgang, was it? -- he might make you sad to remember, but also remind you of the good times, yes?” 

Again, Calem shook her head. She shouldn’t have told Lillie as much as she had, but then again, it… Calem had lost count, actually, of how many Pokémon she’d killed, now. She’d been growing numb to it, but now that she had reason to hurt again, she couldn’t bear the idea of pretending everything was fine. 

Instead, she handed Lillie Wolfgang’s Pokéball, then turned to dig a Revive out of her bag. “The port to use items is right--” She pointed to the back of the ball, right at the base of the hinge. It took a minute, but Lillie managed to get the nozzle to slot into it, and pulled the lever. 

A moment of silence, then, “Um… did something happen? I, I couldn’t tell…” 

Calem held out her hand, and Lillie handed back the Pokéball, then pressed the central button. The ball opened in her hand, a little looser than it should have felt. Nothing came out. 

“He’s dead,” Calem said. “Revive can bring a Pokémon back from fainting, but… once it’s dead, that’s it. Nothing for it, not even a body to bury for caught Pokémon. Something about digitizing them, it just… All that’s left is a broken ball.” 

“Oh, wow…” Lillie said. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. D-does this happen often?” 

Chuckling to herself at that wasn’t a particularly wise decision, but then Calem hadn’t realized she was doing it until she was through. So she stood up, then, and wiped the tears from her cheeks and lied, “No, thankfully, it’s pretty rare. I was just upset, like… like I’d been tempting fate to name this one,” and she gestured with the now-empty Pokéball, “after a dead friend.” It would be more accurate that she should have known that Wolf would die, what with the swaths of death she’d been leaving behind her, and that she should have known that it would hurt when Wolf died, again. But… that was too much. 

“Let’s just go,” Calem said finally, and gestured for Lillie to follow. 

\-- and then immediately pushed her back behind the low wall they’d been by. “More of those Aether guys,” Calem whispered. “Regular employee and… some scientist type, I guess, weird green goggles.” 

Apparently that was significant to Lillie, given how wide her eyes went, and she started to gasp-- then clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle it. When she pried her hands away from her face, she asked, in an even softer whisper than Calem, “Wh-what are they doing here?” 

Calem shrugged, then said, “See if you can’t hide better, okay? I’ll distract them.” 

Lillie nodded, then walked towards part of the hedgerow that wound a maze through the cemetery, and tossed her hat over to the other side. It was pretty clear that trying to crawl under the majority of the branches was already starting to rip her dress, but it was a lot less visible than had she tried to make her way over the top. 

Well, time to make good on her end of the plan. 

“Don’t gimme trouble, I’ll reduce you to rubble!” came a voice beyond the Aether employees that Calem could see. Funny, rhyming of that kind sounded like…

The two Team Skull grunts came into view, then, and the cherry-red haired girl said, “Tha’s right, we’re gonna sell this Pokémon an’ get rich, and we ain’t gonna make no bones about it!” She did some kind of dance-gesture-thing, the kind that Team Skull grunts seemed to be doing constantly, for no discernable reason. “You want it back? Come an’ get it, pussies.” 

The Slowpoke that stood between the two grunts didn’t seem to notice anything of note was happening. 

“Stand firm,” said the scientist dude, “think of what the president would say.” 

The employee beside him sputtered, “Th-that’s what you say, Chief! Yet you never seem to lift a finger!” 

The scientist scoffed, then seemed to notice Calem approaching. “I’m the last line of defense! What would you do without me?” Then he gestured to Calem, and said, “And what luck, a promising looking trainer approaches. You--” he pointed at Calem-- “take care of these worthless Team Skull urchins for me. I will bestow quite the honor upon you, if you do!” 

Calem didn’t have a chance to accept or refuse or make any kind of choice at all, because the male Grunt -- the one whose hair she couldn’t see, hadn’t she met this one with Gladion? -- said, “You with these Aether mariquitas? Gonna fight for these pansy-ass white knights, eh? Fine, I don’t care who I face, I’ll still kick you to space!” 

So Calem fought the Grunt. His Raticate’s Hyper Fang did a lot more damage to Pearl than she’d been expecting -- she was still alive, thankfully, but couldn’t survive a second one. Time to bring out the big guns. Oliver was Calem’s strongest Pokémon by more than a couple levels, and he should be able to deal with a Raticate easily enough. He had no type advantage, but he was strong enough. 

Bite caused Oliver to flinch once, which sucked, but just delayed victory by a turn, it wasn’t a big deal. And then-- 

Hyper Fang struck again, this time for a critical hit. 

Calem watched Oliver’s health bar drop down, down from green to yellow to red-- 

And stop. The bird stood and huffed, glaring daggers at the rat before him. 

As he started to move again, he began to glow. He hopped in the air, flapped his lengthening wings, then launched himself towards the Raticate. By the time the Pluck landed, Oliver had finished evolving into Decidueye. 

“Impressive,” the scientist said behind Calem, though she cared more about whether the Raticate would get up. A moment, two… and then it dissolved into particles of light, which swirled down the energy drain into the Skull Grunt’s Pokéball. 

The male grunt grumbled, “You’re no fuckin’ joke, man.” 

The crimson-haired female grunt kicked the Slowpoke and shouted, “We don’t need this dumbass Pokémon anyway! Good luck and good riddance!” The both of them walked forward, and Calem braced herself-- but they just pushed past her, past the Aether folks, and walked away. 

The Slowpoke let out a pained cry. 

The regular-uniformed Aether employee ran forward and kneeled by the Slowpoke, putting his hand on the Pokémon’s forehead. “Are you okay, little one?” he said, then turned to Calem and said, “Thanks for helping me out of a bind, there. That was some good battling.” 

The scientist approached Calem, then, and he said, “Yes, indeed, that was… delightful. You’re one of Kukui’s Trial-goers, aren’t you? The ones a bit older than usual?” The man lightly touched Calem’s arm and leaned in as he spoke. “You’re a splendid trainer,” he said, not much above a whisper. 

Calem took a step back. “Yeah, cool, thanks, can I--” 

The scientist snorted and grimaced, but didn’t advance further. “I’d like to reward you by showing you something truly astounding,” he said, and though he was speaking conversationally again, he hadn’t dropped the… slimy tone in his voice. “I understand you’re in the area to face off against Olivia for the Grand Trial. Once you’ve completed that, meet me in the Hano Grand Resort in Heahea City, and I will take you to see a wondrous place, that I’m sure you won’t forget.” 

Calem took another step back. “Yeah, thanks, I’ll be. Absolutely sure to do that, my guy.” 

The other employee spoke up again, and said, “Really, thank you. I’m so glad there are kind trainers like you around, even if there are still those Skull criminals doing things like this. And good luck on your island challenge!” 

That wasn’t quite fair to generalize Skull as entirely bad, but Calem didn’t know how to counter -- especially given what the grunts here had just said and done. So she just nodded and said, “Thanks,” as the employee picked up the Slowpoke -- no mean feat, that -- and the three of them made their way back towards Konikoni City. 

 

Lillie was between a rock and a hard place. 

Calem found her huddled up and leaning against one of the larger gravestones, thick hedge blocking her view on the other side. It also did a good deal of damage to her dress, though, and her hat was nowhere to be seen. “You doin’ okay?” Calem asked, and sat down on the grass next to Lillie. “They’re gone now, so you know, but you don’t n--”

Before Calem had even finished her sentence, Lillie was shaking her head no. “I… think I’d like to get Nebby to the ruins as soon as possible,” she said, and started to stand up. 

The white dress and stockings were torn even worse than Calem had first imagined. Not enough to really be indecent, but it looked drafty, anyway. Then what Lillie had said sunk in, and Calem started, “W-wait, now? You don’t even want to get a change of clothes or something?” 

Lillie shook her head again. “I don’t have any such extra clothes in Konikoni, only in Heahea and Professor Kukui’s lab south of Iki. A-and, well, it seems like Aether likes the south side of Akala, for some reason, and I’d like to leave the area as soon as possible, too.” 

There was a definite logic to that, so Calem found herself nodding along. Eventually, she thought to offer a jacket of hers -- a bit warm for this time of year, but Calem didn’t know how modest Lillie preferred to be, if she only wore this style of outfit due to habit, as she’d said… oh, how long ago was it that Calem had started this adventure? A month or so? Calem realized she didn’t even know the date today. 

At any rate, Lillie did take the jacket, to tie around her waist. Not quite what Calem had been expecting, but then the worst of the damage had probably been to the poofy bell-part of the skirt, so it worked out. 

Wary of more Aether grunts, the pair of girls continued on to the Ruins of Life, and got there unaccosted any further. 

It felt a little weird, actually, that there hadn’t been any trainers that Calem could see. Enough to make her a little uneasy at how easy it was-- 

Before Calemine could mentally scold herself for tempting fate, Nebby wiggled out of her bag and zoomed away, up and over the gigantic blocks of stone that prevented Lillie or Calem from passing. 

“Well, shit,” Calem summed up the situation. 

Lillie sighed and put her face in her hands. “I should have known this would happen…” she said, and sniffed a bit. 

Well, that just wouldn’t do, letting Lillie cry. Calem set about trying to find a way around, or over, or under the rocks, somehow. From the pit that she could see, that looked about the same width as one of these blocks, this was probably some puzzle that a later Ride Pager Pokémon could help her with, something to emulate Strength. Unfortunately, without a grappling hook or the like, getting into the ten-or-so foot deep pit might include broken ankles, and getting out would involve… calling for help, probably. 

So that was a no-go. Was there enough room for her to step between the stone and the wall? That would be very risky, though, if the rock moved at all--

“So, you’re the one Gladion was going on about, huh?” Calem certainly didn’t recognize the voice, but the name did catch her attention, at least enough to make her turn around and see who was talking to her. 

The woman who stood at the entrance of the ruins was tall -- or maybe she just looked tall because of how she carried herself with confidence, despite wearing what looked to be a swimsuit under the bottom half of a cheap track suit. Bright magenta hair was pulled into pigtails -- quadruple tails, Calem realized, as she noticed the ponytailers were in the shape of skulls, the holes on the eye sockets. 

And yet the aspect that caught Calem’s attention the most was the dramatic contouring makeup job of her face, and the thick winged eyeliner. 

“Earth to space cadet,” she said, and scoffed when Calem blinked out of her confusion. “You don’t seem that special,” the pink-haired stranger added dryly.

Calem grimaced, and said, “I’m… sorry to disappoint, I guess?” She looked over to Lillie then -- and only now noticed that the girl was pale as a sheet. She clutched her sleeves tightly, staring blankly ahead. 

Fuck, was this woman related to Aether too? Calem doubted it, since she looked so clearly affiliated with Team Skull, quite on the opposite side of the spectrum; still, something… was off here. 

Either way, the woman shook her head and said, “I’m Plumeria. I help keep Team Skull together, the big sister of all these numbskulls.” She then started forward again, staring at Calem while continuing, “You’ve realized what idiots they all are, right?” She shook her head, but still approached. “Awfully cute about it though, yeah?” Plumeria smiled, briefly, but then turned sour. “You picking on my dumb little brothers and sisters is really pissing me off, though. Came here to find a rich little white girl with some rare Pokémon, but can’t say I mind finding you here instead.” 

It took nearly all of Calem’s concentration to keep her eyes on this Plumeria, rather than flick to Lillie to see her reaction to being mentioned, apparently unwittingly. 

It didn’t seem like Plumeria was paying much attention to that, anyway. She’d already released her first Pokémon, a Golbat -- which looked like it was gearing up to strike, whether or not Calem was ready. So Calem released the first Pokémon she could get her hands on without thinking, and Bouncee the Steenee came out. She valiantly took the Air Slash aimed at Calem, then, and… started to glow. Calem blinked, surprised that she might have two separate Pokémon evolve to get out of a bind in the same day. 

Without needing to be directed, the new Tsareena directed a Trop Kick and the Goldbat, who… summarily dispatched Bouncee with a second well-aimed Air Slash. 

“Fucking--” but no, not now. Lillie already knew that Wolf had died again today, she didn’t need to know how… how Calem seemed to trail death behind her, these days. 

So Calem just made a show of pocketing the automatically withdrawn Pokémon, and tried to actually think about strategy, this time around. 

But there wasn’t the time, Plumeria’s Golbat was working up to another attack, and Calem’s team was built to train those she’d been planning on bringing with her to face Olivia. But with Pele, Wolf, and now Bouncee dead, Calem was going to have to rely mostly on Oliver to beat… Olivia. Perhaps it was fitting. 

For now, that left her with Donkey Oatey, who couldn’t get STAB but at least wasn’t weak, and Pearl, who was only being kept around for residual Exp. Share training, and thus the lowest leveled of her current party. 

Fuck it, Donkey Oatey probably had the best chance, so Calem let her out. Stomp was a pretty powerful move for this level, truth be told, and so even without STAB or type advantage, the little donkey managed to win out in the end. Plumeria’s Salandit was even easier, having not only no immunity to the Mudbray’s STAB Bulldoze, but was doubly weak to it. 

When Calem won, Plumeria muttered to herself, “Ah, fuck.” Then, louder to Calem, “I’ll admit you’re pretty strong. Mess with Team Skull again, though-- you’ll see just how serious I can get.” Without waiting for Calem to respond, she started walking away. 

Which was why, when Calem glanced down at her Pokéball and said, “Lady, I already think you’re as serious as a heart attack,” she got no response. It… felt weird, and bad, to be the one walked out on. That was… Calem wasn’t sure whether she should feel bad that this was how she made other people feel, somewhere between unable to get the last word and just completely not done with the conversation -- or if she should be upset that Plumeria was stealing Calem’s tactic. 

Like Calem had copyrighted it, or something. 

Regardless, with this Plumeria character gone, Calem was left with Lillie-- who still stood, clutching Calem’s off-color jacket at her waist, looking not just bedraggled, hair tangled and still with bits of twigs, ruined socks, and the like-- but like she’d just seen a ghost. 

Calem approached and reached a hand out to Lillie, but didn’t quite touch her. “Are you okay?” she asked, even though she knew the answer. 

Lillie didn’t exactly answer, but said, “H-he wouldn’t… would he? How-- how did he even know?” She backed up until her shoulders hit the wall, then slid down to sit on the ground, and dragged her hands down her face. Calem could hear her sobbing breaths, but not the sniffling that usually accompanies crying. 

Calem sank down next to Lillie and patted her shoulder, not sure what else she could possibly do to help. Talking about it was probably not something Lillie wanted to do right now, but Calem had too little information to understand what was going on, to give any kind of useful insight. 

Not that she really knew how to deal with others’ trauma, anyway. Augustine Sycamore could, clearly, attest to that much. 

“W-what does Nebby even need with the Ruins?” Lillie said, and startled Calem. “I know she was trying to drag me to the Ruins of Conflict, too. But I don’t know why, and Professors Kukui and Burnet d-don’t have any idea either. It’s… clearly pretty important, or at least I think so? Any time any of the Ruins are mentioned she starts acting rowdy, trying to push me to the door to go already…” 

Calem sat back in thought, then asked, “Is there an island protector god deity thing for Akala, like there is for Melemele?” 

Lillie nodded, responding, “Yes, the Ruins of Life here are Tapu Lele’s temple. But is there any more to them than that the Tapu resides here? Is Nebby interested in the Tapu themselves, or something about the site of the ruins themselves? I… I don’t know.” 

It just killed Calem that Lillie was so distraught, that she was sitting here, face to knees, and that the best Calem could offer was a pat on the shoulder. But there really was nothing else she could think of to comfort her, so Calem stood up and said, “I… guess I’ll start trying to get Nebby again.” 

There really wasn’t enough of a gap between the large, cuboidal boulders and the walls to let Calem shimmy through -- and even if there had been, that was a risky enough prospect that she probably wouldn’t take that unless it was the only chance to survive. The idea of the boulders shifting and crushing her was not a pleasant one. 

Between the nearest boulder and the pit it could clearly be slid into, there was a ledge. A very small one, but perhaps Calem could balance well enough… 

Calem had carefully walked about a foot and a half when she realized it was just too small to keep her balance for nearly long enough -- and her ass too large, unfortunately. For just a moment she stumbled and reflexively leaned forward to get her footing back under her, but with as small as the ledge was, even a moment of having her center of balance too far out left her tumbling into the ten-foot-deep hole, and a sickening crunch at the end. 

After cursing at herself for a solid thirty seconds, Calem managed to sit up. Her ankle definitely looked broken, and felt worse. Calem looked through her bag to find a potion to spray on herself -- not fond of the idea of taking valuable resources from her team or using Pokémon-grade anaesthetic and stimulants, but it was better than nothing, anyway. 

As she did that, Calem realized that she had a Ride Pager with a Charizard who could fly. It wasn’t really legal to use Fly for such short gaps, but it had been a possibility, anyway. Charizard -- or for that matter, Oliver -- could have lifted her across the gap, and she didn’t need to break her ankle. 

Apparently her cursing was louder than she’d thought, as Lillie appeared on one side of the gap, asking if Calem was okay, if she needed to call someone, if there was a way to call someone. 

On the other side of the gap, Calem realized she was looking at Nebby and a humanoid pitch black Pokémon with bright pink hair and sitting in a matching pink shell on her head and below her waist. 

Her, Calem thought, because of the eyeshadow-like markings, the pink coloration, and the girlish hair. 

“You’re not quite as quick on your feet as Tapu Koko, are you?” 

What was presumably Tapu Lele shrugged, and tittered, before floating down the hole, with Nebby by her side. A few feet away from Calem, though, she stopped moving and her smile dropped suddenly. She looked at Nebby, who waved her gaseous arm-clouds in… something the Tapu seemed to understand. Tapu Lele continued to approach Calem then, if more slowly than before-- while Nebby just zipped on past Calem and floated up the other side of the pit, right to Lillie-- and a bit beyond. Lillie started to chase after her, and disappeared from Calem’s view. 

Tapu Lele captured Calem’s attention when she trilled, before picking Calem up by the armpits and lifting her out of the pit. 

When the Tapu placed Calem back down, Calem’s ankle still hurt-- but didn’t feel nearly as bad as it had even a few minutes ago. “Thank you,” Calem said, and unsure what else to do to show respect, bowed. 

Tapu Lele smiled weakly and waved a sad little wave. Apparently healing Calem, or maybe just picking up a full grown human, had tired her out. 

Either way, she flew back into the ruins, past the pit, around the boulders, and out of sight.


	12. Aether Sanctuary

A Tsareena would have been great to use against Olivia. But it was fine. It was _fine_ , Oliver was strong enough and had actually lost his Flying type when evolving into Decidueye, so he took care of Olivia’s fossils and her Midnight Lycanroc with ease. It was fine. A little ironic even, given his name.

Calemine was more than a little bitter that of the various rock types Olivia had at her disposal, she’d chosen to face Calem with resurrected fossils. She probably didn’t know of Calem’s comparatively amateurish interest in geology, her multiple abandoned studies regarding the connections Pokémon have between various stones, and for a brief period, had even tried her damndest to figure out _why_ it was that the material in Pokémon fossils even _could_ be revived. Non Pokémonic fossils were significantly more abundant, and had thus had much more studying done — and, quite definitively, nothing remotely organic remained.

Olivia didn’t know that, _couldn’t_ know that — could she? Theoretically, she could have spoken to Professor Kukui. Sina and Dexio had been in contact with Kukui before they ran into Calem weeks ago, they had to have mentioned her, right? Would Kukui have talked to Sycamore about her, would he have poked around, found her digital paper trail?

He could have. He probably wouldn’t, Kukui wasn’t averse to research but he didn’t seem the type to go investigating like a private eye. On the other hand, it’s not like she’d really spent that much time around him. He’d spoken with her several times, and she was polite — okay, that was a lie. She was never polite. But Calem didn’t outright ignore or dismiss Kukui when he approached her, when he tried to make friendly.

For her own part, Calem had tried to minimize any attachment to him. He was married, obviously he wasn’t interested romantically — _not that being attached stopped Augustine,_ Calem reminded herself — but no, she didn’t even want to be friends. He was great, sure. She didn’t want to be reminded of her own shortcomings, though.

So could Calem really say she had any idea what kind of person Kukui was?

She could trust Hau, though. She could also trust that she’d let him down at some point, but he was a happy kid. He’d be able to deal with it, probably. Maybe, just _maybe_ , some of his sunshiney brightness might actually rub off on her, or at least could manage to temper her literal death aura.

Calem would abandon Hau eventually, perhaps. Whether that was inevitable or not remained to be seen; but in the here and now, she didn’t feel overwhelmed with anything yet, didn’t feel pressured to be anything specific for him.

And she knew, as excited as Hau was to be invited to tour Aether Paradise by “some cool green guy with goggles,” that there was no way on Arceus’ green earth that she’d let Hau go anywhere near that creep without backup.

The fact that not only Professor Kukui, but Kahuna Olivia tagged along with Hau to the Hano Grand Resort at the determined meeting place didn’t exactly speak of trust on their part.

All the way from the hotel to the pier where the Aether speedboat was tied, Hau and this Faba guy were talking energetically, and it was hard to get a word in edgewise. Mostly Hau’s half of the conversation was reactionary interjections, “Cool!” and the like; Faba was mostly monologuing about the wonders of Aether technology, what they’d see at the paradise, and more. Faba did look genuinely excited as he spoke, but the way he leaned towards Hau, the way he wrapped an arm around Hau’s shoulders as he used his other arm to gesture into the distance — it didn’t sit right.

At the edge of the pier, just before Hau stepped onto the boat, Olivia put a hand on his shoulder. “Faba,” she said, looking at the older man. “I cherish every single one of my trial goers as if they were my own flesh and blood, my own children. But Hau here practically _is_ that. I’ve known him since he was knee high, and his grandfather, the Kahuna of Melemele, longer.  “I treasure him, as both of these thing, immeasurably.” She tightened her grip on Hau’s shoulder enough to make him flinch and look up at her in confusion.

“Yes, I’m sure you do,” Faba said, dismissing her out of hand. “Are you going somewhere with all of this?”

“My responsibilities are perhaps my greatest enemy at the moment, and thus I can’t take this _gracious_ offer of a tour.” Keeping her gaze on Faba, she moved her arm around Hau’s shoulders and hugged him towards herself, placing the bulk of her body between the two. “But as a Kahuna and a trainer, Pokémon will always be my greatest ally.”

For a moment, only the waves breaking against the wooden supports of the pier broke the silence as everyone focused on Olivia. She, in turn, bored through Faba’s calm facade with a cold glare.

“Do you understand me,” she said softly, and through gritted teeth.

Faba visibly swallowed, though he coughed and tried to play it off as dismissive. “Yes, yes! I, Branch Chief Faba, would _never_ allow a prized Trial Goer anywhere near harm’s way. Honestly, I can’t believe you have the gall to even insinuate—”

Olivia grabbed one of his now wilding gesticulating arms and held it, her colorful nails digging into the fabric of his sleeve. “Are. We. Clear,” she said.

Faba grimaced as he tugged at his arm, though he was unable to shake *Olivia’s grip. “Crystal,” he said, and was finally returned custody of his arm. Despite the fabric being thick enough to prevent chemical burns from laboratory accidents, Faba still rubbed at his wrist as if it were sore.

Olivia, however, returned to her bright self without much issue, grinning as she gave Hau a hug and a kiss at the top of his head, shook hands with Calem, and hugged the Professor, too. “Well, duty calls!” she said, and skipped off down the pier, jewelry audibly tinkling together as she went.

They all watched her go, and Hau broke the silence saying, “Wow, that was weird! Are you like, an ex of hers, or something?”

Calem nearly choked on a laugh. Olivia couldn’t be too much older than herself, right? Early thirties, at oldest, whereas Faba had to be at least forty, probably closer to fifty.

A niggling thought started to form in Calem’s head about older men in the sciences, but Kukui thankfully cut that off by saying, “I don’t believe so? That sure was strange though, yeah! Maybe something just has her spooked.”

Tapu Lele’s pained face ghosted across Calem’s mind, and she suddenly wondered whether anyone else besides her even though Faba just seemed like a creep. Sure, she’d love to be wrong about this guy, but… not at the cost of having used up so much of Tapu Lele’s healing energies, even if that’s not how causality worked.

“So Prof,” she asked to take her mind off it, “are you going to be coming with us then?”

Kukui shook his head. “Yeah nah, I’ve got some very important and time sensitive research I need to get back to. Just wanted to see you off, since you’re done here on Akala now. I’ll see you on the next island, Ula’ula, yeah?”

Both Hau and Calem nodded, and Hau asked, “Oh! What kind of research are you working on today?”

Kukui blinked. “Ah, well,” he said, and grinned. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Hau, then continued, “You see—” He raised his arm to look at his watch, and blinked when he noticed it wasn’t there.

Again, Kukui looked at Hau, and finally answered, “I’m going to be testing how synergetic moves interact with each other when Pokémon when they’re not one-on-one combatants, but not partners either. Interesting stuff, yeah?”

Hau nodded excitedly, and said, “Yeah! Hey, that sounds kind of like—”

Interrupting Hau, Kukui said, “But I did say it was time sensitive, and you know, without my watch I really don’t know how much time we’ve spent here, so I’ll see you later, cousin!” He beat a considerably hastier retreat than Olivia had. At the end of the pier, though, he turned around and added, “When you get to Ula’ula, meet me in Malie Gardens, yeah?” Hau nodded and waved, then Kukui waved back and took off at a jog. 

Faba stepped onto the deck without much ceremony and turned around. “Well, what are you two waiting for?” he asked. “Come on, come on, I haven’t got all day, you know. As the Branch Chief, I’m delighted to show around such _promising_ young trainers,” he said, and the sleaze started dripping from his voice again, “but dallying here on the shore is neither interesting nor useful, and I must spend my time wisely.”

Hau hopped on deck and ran to the other end, practically thrumming with excitement.

Calem narrowed her eyes at Faba and stepped aboard.

 

* * *

 

Faba didn’t hover over the pair for their time at Aether, thankfully. On the ferry, he still oozed a smarmy aura, but kept his distance from both Hau and Calem. He spent the time in a deck chair preoccupied with a tablet computer. When they arrived at the facility itself, Faba spoke briefly about the wondrous technology used and being developed at Aether, it’s true. The moment that someone who wasn’t one of Aether’s worker drones appeared, though, Faba dumped the two on her without much ceremony. Most of their conversation was reprimanding her about not using his full title, even.

“I’m sorry, Calem and Hau,” she said with a little bow. “You can call me Wicke, and it’s a pleasure to meet the both of you. I’d be honored to guide you around the Alolan Aether facility.”

“Whoa whoa, wait, how did you know our names?” Hau asked.

Wicke chuckled. “Faba spoke well of you two, which you might have guessed is _quite_ a feat.” Calem raised an eyebrow, and Wicke added, “Not as well as he described himself, of course.”

They rode the elevator to the main entrance of Aether, where the public facilities were hosted, including a public use PC that could access the Storage System, and a healing station. “You’re welcome to come back any time,” Wicke said, giving the both of them lifetime guest passes. “Without a personal ferry, you’ll be flying in to the entrance out front. This floor isn’t terribly interesting though, so why don’t we head to the main event?”

When they arrived at the second floor, the Pokémon Sanctuary, Wicke spoke a little about the mission of the Foundation as a whole, protecting Pokémon. She described how they helped Pokémon stolen and recovered from Team Skull, and specifically about the over predation of Corsola by Toxapex. But after that, she let them explore as they wished — with the fenced in boardwalk through the various miniature biomes in the conservation area, there wasn’t much they could do to interfere with the work of the Aether employees in the thick of things, even on a self-guided tour.

Those employees that were also up in the boardwalk were happy to answer questions and just talk about the job as a whole. So many Pokémon from all over Alola were here. There were several specimens that were perfectly healthy and had been for some time, but as invasive species would wreck the Alolan ecosystem even more than the Ratatta and Yungoos already had over a century ago.

Later in the afternoon, Wicke took the pair to meet Aether President Lusamine, a young woman with long blonde hair, feathered out and reaching halfway down her thighs. She looked as if she could be Lillie’s sister, down to the mostly-white wardrobe.

“President Lusamine!” Wicke said as she approached. “I’m glad you’re still in the conservation area, I was hoping to introduce you to these two.”

Lusamine smiled gently and said, “Ah, hello there. And who might you two be?”

“I’m Hau!” said Hau, beaming. “And this is Calem! We’re on our Trials a the moment, but Faba offered to show us here when we ran into him on southern Akala — well, actually I don’t know exactly how he met Calem, but he said such a promising trial-goer like me should definitely see this here, and it’s been great!”

Lusamine nodded at Hau’s onslaught, and when he paused she managed to ask, “Is that so? I don’t see him with you now, though.”

Calem answered this time, “No, he—” She stopped herself, then, and glanced at Hau. Olivia had very carefully worded her threats not just for plausible deniability, but also Calem thought to not alert Hau to the unpleasant possibility of Faba’s motivations. “He must have been busy, and ‘asked’” Calem made air quotes with her fingers, “Wicke to take us in his stead. All in all he was kind of an asshole, honestly.”

This startled a rather undignified bark of laughter from Lusamine. “That does sound like him, I’ll admit.”

Wicke said, “Oh, it’s not so bad,” shrugging. “He may be… well, you have already come to your own conclusions, but he does care. As Branch Chief, though, he really is a very busy man.”

“Thank you, Wicke,” Lusamine said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “that’s enough on him. Why don’t we focus on our guests, for now? You’re both clearly older than the typical eleven years old, is there a story there?”

“Eh,” Hau answered. “I dunno. Everyone always figured I’d be raring to go, do my Trials the moment I turned eleven, being grandkid of a Kahuna. Wasn’t ready, though. But now, I’m finally where I want to be physically and mentally! It’s time to make up for lost time, you know?”

Nodding, Lusamine said, “Yes, I think that’s wise. It’s a very respectable quality, to spend time with your family rather than rushing out the first moment it’s possible. You’re a wise young man, Hau.” His smile shown nearly as radiant as the sunlight through the sanctuary’s glass ceiling. “And you, Calem?”

Calem bit her lip and looked away, thinking. She eventually managed, “I needed to get away from some bad circumstances, and reconnecting with my roots in Alola felt right. I’ve been a professional-grade Trainer for several years now, so that seemed the best way to be…” Calem sighed and looked at the woman in front of her, trying to figure out how to phrase her current status. “A productive member of society, I guess.”

Again, Lusamine nodded. “Yes, you wouldn’t want to end up like those awful Team Skull ruffians. They’re absolutely the bane of my existence, at least here in Alola. Thank Arceus above they’re as small a group as they are, they get up to enough trouble here as it is. Team Rocket is a much larger threat in other regions, but Alola’s ecosystem is so unique and fragile…” Lusamine put a hand to her chest and closed her eyes. “I am responsible for the entire corporation, of course, but I feel as if the Pokémon here in Alola are like my children…” She sighed, and panned her gaze over the sanctuary at large with a gentle smile on her face.

“Wow,” Hau said, and scratched the back of his head in apparent embarrassment. “How do you do all this? You’re not even that much older than us, and you’ve already done so much.”

Lusamine blinked, then covered her mouth with her hand to hide a giggle. “Oh, aren’t you sweet! It’s good to know I still have that youthful charm. But no, I’m turning forty two just next month.”

“Ah, okay!” Hau said. A moment later, he stepped back and gaped, “Wait, you’re _WHAT_?”

Still giggling, Lusamine said, “Style can do _wonders_ , dear. And my, wise as you are, your own is… wanting, isn’t it? Both of you, I _must_ take you out some time, find you a classier outfit. You’d be so much better behaved, such fine young people as yourselves.”

Calem snorted, but didn’t otherwise reply.

“What?” Hau held up his hands in a defensive posture, “Like the whole Aether all-white thing? It’s great and all, but I dunno. I think Lillie’s like, the only other person I know who could pull that whole thing off.”

For just a moment, Lusamine’s smile faltered. But the moment passed, and she said, “Don’t you worry your little head about it, Hau,” she said. “I only have your best interests at heart, you can leave everything safely in my hands. Children would be much happier if they would only listen to the adults around them.”

Hau crossed his arms and said, “Thanks, but just because I’m on my trial doesn’t mean I’m a kid.” Before he could say much more, though, a metallic pulse sounded behind the pair.

Calem turned around to look, and nearly gasped right along with Lusamine.

The ripple in the sky she’d seen outside the Dimensional Research Lab was here, but larger, and closer, and brighter.

The sound rang through the sanctuary again, and the hazy mirage-like distortion grew larger. In its center, with the loudest clang yet, the mirage split in two — nothing was hidden behind it, the light just curved on all sides, giving a strangely shifting panoramic view of the path on the other side of the jagged nothing.

It wasn’t space — it hurt Calem’s eyes to even look at it. It hurt even more to try to understand what the difference between the shimmering mirage and the impenetrably white void in the middle of it. Colors rippled and changed, except they weren’t really colors; it almost looked as if the strings of the universe had come undone by threads, and were dangling into the nothing.

Suddenly, a white mass came tumbling through,* somersaulting through the air before finding its balance and floating up. It resembled some sort of jellyfish Pokémon. At first.

It settled a few feet away from the group and made an echoing trill, and another image settled in Calem’s mind. The frill around its bell resembled the brim of a hat, and its tentacles gathered in a long mass at what seemed to be the ‘back’ of it, assuming it was facing the group. At the front, the tentacles were shorter, and there was a notable negative space where only the barest nubs of tentacles could be seen, where bangs might have hung above a girl’s face.

Specifically, Lillie’s. The way the tentacles were arranged looked very much like Lillie’s hat and hairstyle.

Two thicker and longer tentacles extended past the mass of ‘hair,’ and the analogues of the braids on either side of Lillie’s face seemed to act independently of the rest of the mass. These faux arms and legs completed the uncanny resemblance to a young girl.

“Oh, you poor creature,” Lusamine said, stepping towards it.

“Miss Lusamine!” Hau shouted, with a note of distress in his voice for perhaps the first time since Calem had met him. “What are you— that thing’s not normal, don’t—”

Lusamine paid him no heed, and advanced further, extending her hand. “Did you come here from another world? Don’t worry, I can take care of everything…”

Her movement seemed to spook the thing, though, and it lashed out at Lusamine’s extended hand with one of its tentacles. The President stumbled back with a cry, and held her wounded hand close to her chest. Wicke was too stunned by the creature’s appearance to do anything, and Calem hadn’t moved fast enough — leaving Hau as the one to catch her before she fell to the ground.

“Calem!” he said, “distract it! I’ve gotta get Miss Lusamine to safety, okay?”

Calem nodded, and turned to face the creature.

Even as she was being half-carried out of the area, though, Lusamine was saying under her breath, “That poor creature, that poor, poor creature…”

The strange Pokémon trilled again, pulling Calem’s attention back to the matter at hand. Thank Arceus above that Calem had gotten into the habit of healing her team literally every time she had the chance to, or else they might have still been tired from the Pokémon battles on Hano Beach, both catching new team members and facing off against random trainers.

“Zzzorry, Calem,” Carlo the Rotomdex popped out of Calem’s bag to say, “My Pokédex hazzz no information at all on thizzz Pokémon. It izzz only level twenty zzzeven, though, zzzo you should be able to take it, no problem.”

As Calem nodded and sent out her first Pokémon, Flufflebuns the Cutiefly, the strange opponent suddenly let off a burst of light. After Calem could see again, the creature was still glowing with a faint red corona.

“…Whatever that wazzz,” Carlo said, “its Defense rozzze sharply. I don’t think it’zzz going to wear off, either.”

All right. Time for plan B. Calem switched in her recently evolved Mudsdale, Donkey Oatey, who was hit with a Venoshock for her trouble. Oatey’s defense boost didn’t do anything to protect from further Venoshocks, being a special move, but her Ground typing at least resisted it, which was more than Calem had been expecting.

Deciding to push her possible advantage, Calem said, “Oatey, High Horsepower!” The horse Pokémon snuffled and nodded, then ran forward before pivoting on her front legs to spin 180 degrees, catching the opponent in a powerful kick with her hind legs, flinging large chunks of her natural mud at it in the process.

The thing was knocked back and even hit the ground. It let out another of its buzzing, ethereal cries as it started to vibrate, and the space around it started to go strangely fuzzy. The white Pokémon tried to right itself, failed, and gave one last screech before the space around it spun and collapsed into itself, distorting the image of the jellyfish thing.

And then, quite suddenly, everything was fine. The creature had disappeared entirely, and there was no evidence to suggest it had ever been here in the first place. The sun shone bright through the glass, the air was sweet with the smell of lush growth. The sounds of happy Pokémon and other creatures came softly in the background, apparently undisturbed by their absent visitor.

Hau and Lusamine hadn’t even made it to the first curve in the boardwalk by the time the creature had disappeared, so Calem decided to tag along with them to the healing station on the first floor.

On the way, Lusamine was mumbling. “It’s true… it’s true!” she said, looking at no one in particular. “That was undoubtedly an Ultra Beast…”

Hau was struggling after not very long to support Lusamine around her waist — her healthy hand clutched the injured to her chest, leaving it obscured and both occupied — so he had to make do. She wasn’t totally limp, thankfully, and was taking steps forward as Hau guided her along. But the moment he stopped for breath, so did she.

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry!” Wicke said, rushing up behind the pair and beating Calem there. “Let me take care of Madam President, don’t you worry about her.”

“An unknown being from another dimension that appeared in an Ultra Wormhole…” Lusamine mumbled as Wicke pulled Lusamine’s healthy arm away from her core and around Wicke’s shoulders. The bubbling, purplish skin now visible made both Hau and Calem wince. “How could it not? It must be, I’m not wrong… I can’t be wrong…”

It wasn’t quite clear if Lusamine knew what she was saying, or even that others were around her; the injured hand still govered around her chest, though it wasn’t being protected by the other anymore, and her eyes were oddly dilated. “She was suffering, pained to be in this strange place…”

“Is she going to be okay?” Calem asked, hovering, not sure what she should be doing. If there was anything she could be doing.

Wicke nodded a touch too quickly. “Of course! We here at Aether have state of the art facilities. There’s first aid at every elevator entrance, and downstairs we can do more thorough treatment. She’ll be perfectly fine in a jiffy!”

“So different from her home, wherever that might be…” Lusamine continued. “I can’t bear to see that happen, I can’t, I can’t!”

Hau and Calem kept walking with Lusamine and Wicke, but they both avoided looking too long at Lusamine. No one said anything about what she was saying.

Eventually, another joined their procession — a Greninja. Wicke looked over and nodded to it, but didn’t otherwise comment. Hau looked at Calem with a questioning look, but all Calem could do was shrug. Hau shrugged back, and they kept on.

“I will save her. And I will love her. And she will finally love me.”

 

* * *

 

Calem, Hau, and the Greninja looked up as they heard the elevator approaching their floor. It didn’t go past without stopping, as it had one or twice before, and its passenger was — Wicke! Finally!

Hau ran to the woman and asked, “Is she doing okay? What even happened? What’s going to happen from now on, what was that, is that going to be a—”

Wicke put her hand on Hau’s shoulder and shook her head. “Such energy!” she said. “Madame President will be just fine. We’re not sure why she got fever delirious quite so quickly, but the venom in her system was on par with nearly any Poison Type Pokémon. Significantly less dangerous than a Salazzle’s corrosive poison, even.”

Calem approached too, and asked, “So any ideas on what the rest of it was all about?”

Shaking her head, Wicke said, “I’m afraid that’s classified for now. We’ll be doing everything we can to understand, of course, and contacting the Dimensional Research Laboratory on Akala and coordinate with them, but specifics will be withheld until the President is well again and able to write an official press release.”

Ah, well, Calem should have expected that. She accepted it with a nod, then jerked a thumb behind her towards the Greninja and said, “Is this guy part of that, or…?”

Wicke blinked and knitted her eyebrows as she stared at Calem. “I thought it was one of yours?”

“I’m not, in fact,” a voice Calem didn’t recognize said from behind her.

She turned abruptly and didn’t see anyone there but the Greninja.

Wicke was apparently as startled as Calem was by the incident, as her eyes were wide behind her cat-eye glasses, and her hand covered her gaping mouth.

The Greninja chuckled, and said, “Apologies, I didn’t mean to be dramatic. I simply wasn’t sure how exactly to broach the subject, and felt I had hesitated long enough.”

“Oh…kay, what subject is that?” Calem asked.

“I came here to Alola because something is very wrong. The strongest guardian from my home always exists as smaller segments that can join together, spread across the world… but typically, most of them reside in Kalos. From what I can tell, every single cell of this creature has now migrated to Alola, where only about 60% had by the time I arrived. I believe the Ultra Beast you defeated has something to do with this, and I would like to accompany you on your travels. Aether has been invaluable while collecting information, but it is time to act — and you seem to have the strength to do so.”

Several seconds after the Pokémon stopped talking, Calem was still trying to process all he had said. It raised more questions than answers, how had he come to Alola as a lone Pokémon, how did he know about — it had to be Zygarde, given what Sina and Dexio had said. How did he know not just of its existence as a definite fact, but the movements of its individual cells?

“That’s intense stuff,” Hau said, “but how can you _talk_?”

…As much as it seemed a superficial question, Calem couldn’t deny that it was a very good one.

The Greninja turned to Hau. “I’ve had a lot of time to learn,” he answered.

There was a pause. The Greninja didn’t continue.

“So, uh, what’s your name, then?” Calem asked.

“If I ever had one, I have forgotten it,” the Greninja said. “I have devoted myself to being a Guardian of Kalos. Nothing less, and nothing more.”

“So, would Guardian work?”

The Greninja put one of his webbed fingers to his chin in thought. “Yes, I do suppose so,” Guardian said.

“Well,” Wicke said, “this is just fascinating. Madame President will be ecstatic to hear about this development! If we had realized you were here, Guardian, we would have loved to have worked with you, but I understand why you need to be going now. It’s probably best to have some folks doing some external scouting. Maybe the Dimensional Research Lab can send some people too…”

“Auntie Burnet is a friend of ours!” Hau said, grinning. “And yeah they probably have field scientists they can spare too, but we’re definitely going to be moving around a lot, keeping an eye out for rare Pokémon, all that jazz.”

Wicke nodded, “Yes, I had forgotten you are trainers under Mister Burnet’s care, aren’t you? I forget his name, but I remember now he’s an officially licensed Pokémon Professor, isn’t he? It’s so good that Alola finally has one.” She smiled brightly at the two of them. “Well, I can share with you what files I’ve been granted permission to share with the Heahea DRL, and arrange a boat for you to Ula’ula. Guardian, do you have a Pokéball you’ve been registered to?”

Guardian nodded and said, “I do, in fact.” He reached into the folds of the tongue wrapped around his neck and pulled out a miniaturized Pokéball, which he expanded with a press of the central button. Most of it was a solid maroon, but there was a thick band of black on either side of the seam, meeting on either side of the center in two sideways U-shapes. The central button was the same red as the base, with a black band marking its edges.

“My, that’s a unique looking ball!” Wicke said, nearly echoing Calem’s thoughts. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Guardian didn’t comment on that, only handed the ball to Calem. “Until the end of this conflict, I am your partner. I am trusting you to return my ball when the time has come, and leave me to return to my home. I must be here to protect Alola, for the fate of the entire world is at stake, I believe — but my first priority will always be to Kalos.”

Calem nodded solemnly. “I wouldn’t wish to tie down anyone that doesn’t want to stay,” she said.


	13. Chapter 13

Even after the pair of trainers had had the chance to heal their whole teams at the Pokémon Center in Malie City, Calem nearly refused his challenge. He insisted, though, and mentioned that it had been a while since they’d tested each other, so Calem relented. 

 

Poppy was still only at 30% of its potential strength, and as such hadn’t managed to evolve from Brionne into a Primarina yet. Oliver took care of him easily, but without relish. Hau’s Flareon, Booster, might have proven an issue for physically-oriented Oatey the Mudsdale, but Guardian was eager to take part in the training, and similarly dispatched the Eeveelution, especially since she was the best choice against Hau’s Alolan Raichu. Flufflebuns, just recently evolved into Ribombee, took out his Noibat — an interesting new addition, and Calem had to wonder where he’d found it. She hadn’t seen any in her own travels. Finally, he had a Tauros, which Calem didn’t have anything to field with a type advantage — it had been a while since she’d trained Tabitha the Makuhita, and she sort of regretted that at the moment — but no, she was able to take it down between Skullcrusher the Vullaby and Pearl the Trumbeak, who even evolved into Toucannon for the trouble. 

 

Afterward, Hau wanted to go with Calem to find Professor Kukui in Malie Gardens, but Calem demurred. “I think I need some time to myself, actually,” Calem said. Hau accepted that, then ran there without a second thought. 

 

Once he had gone, Calem plopped down on one of Malie’s stone benches with a sigh.  _ No one was lost in that battle _ . The longer Calem kept the same Pokémon in her team, the more it would hurt when she did lose them, she knew. But those who could last, would only get tougher the longer they were with her. Effort Values, and all that. It would suck even more if she lost someone to Hau, such a bright ray of sunshine… he’d be just about as devastated as she would be. 

 

Not to mention, there was still the whole… Ultra Beast thing. Calem had read some of the files Wicke had given the pair on the ferry ride over, but she got motion sick pretty fast, along with the fact that she just really didn’t want to think about all that. Weird as it might be, an Ultra Beast was not a legendary Pokémon, just like a Tapu was not exactly a Legendary. Right? 

 

Calem stood up with a huff and kicked a rock on the ground. Sitting still wasn’t really her style, so she went and resupplied at the Pokémart, found the Malasada shop and bought one for the road, got a soda from the vending machine on the pier… eventually, she actually went to the Gardens itself. 

 

It was so lush, so vibrant and fresh… Calem forgot how nice it had been last winter, but even that paled to the abundance of life in the Alolan summer. Honestly, regretted not going with Hau earlier, even if it was even more chokingly humid here than the shore. If nothing else, she could have done her moping around here with some ice cream from the stand.  

 

Speaking of ice cream, it looked like the cold snack on such a hot day had attracted both Hau and Professor Kukui. Both sat on a wooden bench at the edge of the eatery platform, talking animatedly and each with ice cream. Kukui kept gesturing with his cone, and there was just enough ice cream left that even at this distance, Calem was sure she could see it threatening to drop to the table with each sweep of his hand. 

 

Hau, on the other hand, had a bowl and spoon. It was impossible to see how much he had, but the deep dish certainly didn’t belong to a low-calorie light snack. 

 

“Ah, Calem! I’m glad you could make it,” Professor Kukui said when he saw her, and waved her over. 

 

After Calem got her own ice cream cone, she sat down next to Hau. Kukui continued then, “Hau was telling me about the Ultra Wormhole at the Paradise! Man, I wish I could have been there to see that, yeah? Or better yet, Burnet. Wow!” Kukui leaned over the table to clap her on the shoulder. It’s amazing, isn’t it? The sort of thing that hits you like a Thunderbolt, doesn’t it!” 

 

Calem shrugged. “Uh, sure,” she said. 

 

“With things like that happening,” Kukui continued undeterred, “you two have even more reason to train extra hard! Gotta see all that fantastic stuff happening, yeah?” He shrugged, and added, “Who knows, maybe someday we’ll even be able to go through one of those Ultra Wormholes ourselves!” 

 

“Oh dear  _ Arceus _ I fucking hope not,” Calem said before she had really thought about it. 

 

Finally, Kukui’s smile dimmed and he really looked at Calem. “You doing okay, cousin?” he asked. “I heard you threw your High Horsepower at the Ultra Beast and knocked it flat?” 

 

Calem hunched her shoulders and stared at the table. “I don’t know what to think yet,” she said. 

 

“A really cool Pokémon even joined her!” Hau said. “I mean yeah the whole incident was really scary, especially with how Miss Lusamine ended up, but that Guardian is no joke! Come on, let him meet the Professor!” 

 

Calem looked at Hau’s eager face, and to Kukui’s intrigued one, and shrugged. It couldn’t hurt, so she dug out Guardian’s ball and let him free. He blinked a few times as he took in his surroundings, then sat next to the Professor.

 

“Guardian,” Calem said, “this is Professor Kukui. He’s helping me on the island trials, but perhaps more interesting to you, his wife is the head scientist at Alola’s Dimensional Research Lab.” 

 

Guardian nodded, and held a slimy hand out for Kukui to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Professor,” he said. 

 

Kukui barely missed a beat as he took the Greninja’s hand to shake. “You’re really something,” Kukui said. “And if you have anything interesting to say about Dimensional Research, then yes, I’m sure Burnet would be as happy as an Illumise with Tail Glow to meet you.” 

 

The four of them kept chatting for a while, ice cream melting and the sun drifting down the sky. When Hau had finally finished his massive bowl — Calem was pretty sure the dish was designed to be shared between multiple people — Kukui said, “Well, the next Trial for you two to face is at the peak of Mount Hokulani. But you don’t need to climb it — there’s a bus right at the base. I need to go there anyway, so why don’t I go with you, yeah?” 

 

Hau shook his head. “You two go on ahead,” he said. “I’ve got a hot date with the Malasada Shop in Malie!” 

 

There was a moment of silence, then both Kukui and Calem burst out laughing. Even Guardian seemed to be smiling, though it was hard to say for sure with the way his mouth was permanently slightly open to accommodate his tongue-scarf. “Hau, I think you’ve got a Black Hole Eclipse where your stomach is supposed to be,” Kukui said. “Well, the bus runs twenty-four hours, what with tourists and jet lag, so come on up whenever you’re ready. We’ll still be there, I’m sure.” Kukui turned to Calem, then, and said, “I’m sure you’ll take a few minutes to train on the way, so I’ll be waiting at the bus stop until you’re ready. If you take long enough, Hau might even join us, yeah?” 

 

It was Hau’s turn to laugh. “I dunno, there’s a  _ lot _ of stuff to eat here in Malie! And things to do that aren’t eating, I guess? It’s pretty weird, I know, but I thought I’d try it anyway.” 

 

Calem nodded, and said, “I already restocked, and I did most of the general tourist things in Malie last winter, actually. I’d just as soon get training more, so I’ll just be heading directly west.” 

 

“Yeah?” Kukui asked Calem. “I don’t think I knew you were here so recently. Especially around here, though, you might want to be careful. A lot of Ula’ula has pulled a Trick Room in the past few months, so be careful what you say and do, yeah?” He leaned in closer, and said, “Especially with your sense of humor, Calem. There are a lot of sore subjects you don’t wanna be bringing up.” 

 

Kukui straightened then, and said, “Well, anyway, I’m off! I’ll see you at the bus stop.” With a wave, he was off. 

 

Calem looked to Hau. “Do you have any idea what that was all about?” she asked. 

 

Hau shrugged. “Some big news thing happened, yeah, and Gramps was all serious about it, but I never really caught what was going on. I was pretty focused on some of my own stuff at the time, sorry.” He grinned apologetically, and scratched the back of his head. 

 

* * *

 

“Oh, Calem,” Lillie’s voice startled the trainer. “That is you, isn’t it?” 

 

Calem turned to find the girl, wearing an outfit nearly identical to what she’d worn every other time Calem had seen her — even though Calem had seen it ruined with her own eyes. So, multiple sets, she guessed. And of course, she had those big green eyes, bright and innocent as fresh buds after the first snow melt of the year. 

 

“Lillie,” Calem said with a smile, “Yeah, it’s me. You’re looking much better, how are you?” 

 

Lillie looked away. “Lost, actually,” she said, and hesitated a moment, before adding, “…yet again.” 

 

Calem walked over and took Lillie’s hand in her own and chuckled. “Aw, Lillie, I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “Where are you trying to be? Maybe I can help you out.” 

 

“You know how how Nebby keeps wanting to go to the Tapu’s Ruins?” Lillie said, and Calem nodded, not liking where this was going. “The Ruins of Abundance are actually deep in a desert on the center of the island… I couldn’t ask you to go through all that for me, and I  _ certainly _ couldn’t possibly get there on my own.” She looked up at Calem, then, and added, “So I was hoping to find some answers in the Library here. It’s supposed to be quite extensive, I hear, so I was hoping that I could bypass the Ruins visits altogether with something I might learn there.” 

 

“Oh, wonderful!” Calem said. “Yes, that sounds like a good plan.” She smiled and looked around. “I’m sure I can find a map around here somewhere, or at least someone who can point the way…” 

 

For being laid out on a grid for the most part, Malie City actually ended up rather confusing for Calem too, honestly. She remembered how on her three day vacation last Christmas, she’d mostly been led around by her new friend — what was her name again? Calem forgot to keep in contact with the girl, but being a Kahuna’s daughter had struck her as being a busy existence anyway, so it was just as well. 

 

Finally, Calem asked a young girl with a pair of long, thick braids that was tending to a Mudsale if she knew the way to the library. The girl turned around— and turned out to just be short, not said, “Well, if it ain't the Skull sympathizer!” 

 

Calem blinked. “Wait, have we met?” 

 

The girl nodded, and stuck out her hand. “I’m Hapu, and we shore have! On Akala, some of those Skull kids stole a Pokémon, and you got it back without bloodshed. Right unorthodox, but I din’t see them around after that, so it seemed to work.” 

 

Shaking the offered hand, Calem said, “Oh, right. Hi, I’m Calem, and this is Lillie—” Calem turned to look at her companion, who seemed to have caught the stars above the city in her eyes. 

 

Hapu stepped forward and shook Lillie’s hand too, and said, “It’s a pleasure to make yer ‘quaintance, miss Lillie. C’mon, lemme lead you fine folk to the library.” 

 

Finally finding her voice, Lillie said, “O-oh, don’t trouble yourself, it’s okay—” 

 

Hapu silenced her with a hand. “No trouble ‘tall, ‘specially not for a sweet miss like you.” 

 

“I—I— thank you,” Lillie said, and bit her lip. 

 

On the way, Hapu asked, “So, what’re you hopin’ to find at the library, if I might be obliged?” 

 

Lillie said, “I was hoping to find some information on the Tapu and the various Ruins for— ah, well, my own reasons.” 

 

“Ah, a good topic!” she said. “I’ve got a few Mudsdale back at my home that are legal to register on a Ride Pager, if you ever need the help on rough terrain.” 

 

Hesitating a moment, Lillie said, “Actually, I’m not a trainer. I travel with the Professor and go where I can with Repel, but…” She shrugged helplessly. 

 

Hapu blinked. “Oh my, that’s some gumption there,” she said, and let out a short whistle. “Well, girlie, my own Mudsdale here is a fine girl - biggest one on my ranch, and plenty of room for two, if you need the ride. Just lemme know, I’d be more’n happy to help a girl out.” 

 

Lillie blushed and muttered her thanks under her breath. 

 

Calem, meanwhile, was somewhere between internally screaming at how adorable these babby lesbians were, and envious of Hapu for so easily getting Lillie’s admiration. 

 

Either way, it wasn’t too long until they had actually arrived at the Malie Library’s front entrance. “Well, looks like this is where I take my leave,” Hapu said. “Here, let me—” Hapu scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Lillie. “I know you don’t have a pager y’self, but any Pokémon Center ought to be able to have a phone that can make the connection. That’s my number— just let me know.” 

 

Calem had to interject, “Wait, the ride pagers also work as phones?” 

 

Hapu looked sideways at Calem. “Uh, yeah? You din’t know?” 

 

“No,” Calem grumbled, “no one bothered to tell me that tidbit.”

 

* * *

 

To save time, Lillie started looking for the book upstairs while Calem was looking downstairs. “Burnet told me about it,” she’d said, “a very old book about the Legendary Pokémon of Alola. She thinks they came from other dimensions, too, from the data she’s gathered — both readings from historical sites, and the pictographs there, I believe?” 

 

Calem shrugged. “I saw a place like that last winter, but— I think I’d just as soon leave those kinds of sites to the professionals,” she said. Christmas, the Lake of the Sunne had been calming. After Yveltal… Calem shook her head to clear the thoughts. 

 

“I’m not really sure where it would be,” Lillie said, after talking to the attendant at the entrance wasn’t helpful. “I mean, it could be science or history, right? Or maybe just in mythology, since there hasn’t been any solid proof, yet.” 

 

Calem chuckled darkly. “Oh, I have no doubt they’re real,” she said. “The Tapu might be nice enough, but I wouldn’t wish a Legendary on much of anyone.” Not even Lysandre, she thought, and surprised herself. 

 

Lysandre had turned out to be a vile man with worse morals, but… had he died being crushed in the rubble of countless sub basements under the Ultimate Weapon? Had he survived the collapse, but suffocated in the confined space? Or worst of all, had he survived long enough to starve to death, deep underground without any way to tell the passage of time? 

 

Regardless, Calem looked downstairs, where the scientific journals were. She ran into Samson Oak, even, and they had a short discussion on Alolan Forms. 

 

“You’re kind of an Alolan Form of Samuel Oak yourself, aren’t you?” Calem said with a laugh. 

 

Samson echoed it, and said, “Yes, I’ve heard that before. Samuel and I  _ are _ remarkably similar! We grew up together, though, all of our parents were close friends, so it’s not all that surprising.” 

 

“Since you’re here and an expert on at least  _ some _ Pokémon,” Calem said, “would you happen to know where old books about the Legendary Pokémon of Alola might be? A friend of mine was looking for one — a specific book, I guess — but we didn’t know its title, or what it would be categorized under.” 

 

“Hm,” Oak said, and put a finger to his chin in thought. “I don’t believe to, sorry, miss. I’m here to help if you need anything, but even I can only do so much.” 

 

Shrugging, Calem said, “Eh, it was worth a shot. Well, I’m off to look—” 

 

“Before you go, Trial Goer,” Oak said, and Calem turned around. “You said you’ve helped a lot of professors gather data for research? Well, if you have an Alolan Persian you’ve caught, please show me. I’ll be at the library for a few more days, but I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again soon.” He nodded, then said, “Now, good luck on your travels!” 

 

Not long after that, Calem gave up looking downstairs. It was too dry, and too much of a reminder that she still hadn’t amounted to anything in any of her fields of interest, especially not the sciences. 

 

Upstairs, Lillie was sitting at a desk with a ratty looking girl, scruffy purple hair and a dress that looked stitched together with rags. Calem tried to hide any irritation in her voice when she approached and said, “Oh, have you found it, then?” 

 

Lillie looked up and nodded. “Yes, I think this may be it. I’m not sure, it doesn’t completely match Professor Burnet’s description, but…” 

 

“Oh, trust me,” the unkempt girl said, “this is it. I knew just about every book in dad’s library, you’re lucky this one made it out as much as it did. Or even at all, I guess?” She shrugged. “I moved everything I could here, so they wouldn’t get ruined any more than they already had. Oh, but you know, I know a lot of stuff too! If you have questions, you can ask, or whatever.” 

 

Lillie blinked. “Your dad’s? I thought this book was significantly older than that.” 

 

The girl shook her head. “I mean, yeah it is, but my dad was a greedy asshole. If it was expensive, he wanted it.” She shrugged. “I know I don’t exactly look it, but my family used to be all up in everyone’s business here. Thankfully, though, that’s over and done with for now.” 

 

Something was tugging at the back of Calem’s mind, but she couldn’t place it. 

 

“Anyway, I can help you find anything you want here from our old collection from the mansion. I know a lot of the history of Alola, too — old, mythological stuff like this,” she gestured at the archaic tome they’d been reading, “as well as the, well, rather darker colonization. Just don’t ask me to—” Acerola blinked, then, and put a hand to her mouth as she gasped. “Wait!” she said, and pointed at Calem. “Oh wow, what the heck. You’re the girl that went with me to Malie, aren’t you?” 

 

Calem blinked and squinted at the girl in front of her. “I— I’m sorry, I can’t remember your name, but I think—?” 

 

The girl nodded. “Acerola!” She waved at Calem from across the table and smiled. “Yeah, no I look way different, haha. Man, what a blast from the past! I can’t actually remember your name either, truth be told, uh…?” 

 

“Calem,” she said. “Are you… doing okay?” 

 

Acerola giggled. “Yeah, leading a revolution and making yourself homeless will kinda do that. It’s fine, though! I’m a Trial Captain now, so ‘homeless’ isn’t exactly accurate. And, well, I take care of the ghost types — what else  _ would _ I be, haha? — so the whole tattered thing fits the aesthetic.” 

 

Blinking, Calem said, “Oh.” She took a moment to fully understand all the information she’d just gotten, but failed, and only managed, “Well… hot damn.” 

 

Again, Acerola laughed, and went around the table to hug Calem. “It’s good to see you again! Like, I know I’ve done good, and all, but sometimes things do suck. It’s nice to be reminded folks from simpler times are still doing well.” Calem couldn’t help but snort at that, but didn’t say anything. 

 

“Acerola?” Lillie lightly touched the girl’s arm to get her attention. “If it’s okay, would you stay here with me a little while to help me research? Only if you’re not too busy, of course, I wouldn’t want to be a burden—” 

 

“No problem at all!” Acerola said. “I’m here today anyway, and I think Calem here and her rival are the next Trial Goers scheduled to get to me any time soon — and they’ve still got Sophocles to beat. It’ll be great to get into the history of things again!” 

 

Calem stood up then. “It sounds like you’ve got this handled,” she said, “so I think I’ll go. Good luck, Lillie — and I’ll see you soon enough, Acerola!” She gave the two a curt wave, and got two more enthusiastic waves in return, then was off. 

 

* * *

 

With Skullcrusher the Vullaby and now Guardian the Greninja, Calem had not one but two separate Pokémon that covered Dark Type moves, as well as had a second typing. Yet here she was, training the Meowth she’d gotten on Wonder Trade some time ago, Dana. She was a cute thing, and had nice drive. She was considerably lower leveled than her current party, though, so Calem was taking the extra time to battle against wild Pokémon rather avoiding all but paying Trainer Battles. Dana was lower level than her team, but her team were themselves overleveled in Calem’s caution; the wild Pokémon west of Malie City weren’t much stronger than Dana was. 

 

Problems only arose when Calem forgot her type matchups. A Ledian that was only one level stronger than Dana wouldn’t have been a problem for Calem’s other Pokémon. Being evolved, though, when it used Silver Wind, Dana was in serious trouble, even though she’d started the turn with full health. 

 

Dana didn’t, however faint — didn’t  _ die _ . Dana tumbled back and looked sick, but she stood back up and looked to Calem for instruction. 

 

“Oh no,” Calem said under her breath. “Honey I’m — you’ve been so good, that’s enough,” she said, and withdrew Dana. Calem didn’t even bother to finish the battle, she just picked up Dana’s Pokéball and ran to the Pokémon Center in Malie City. 

 

* * *

 

When Calem got Dana’s ball back, the nurse looked at her quizzically. “Your team is now fighting fit, ma’am, including your Meowth. I appreciate your concern for your Pokémon, but there was no need to panic — Dana hadn’t even been hurt enough to trigger the Pokéball’s automatic faint safeguard, let alone sustain lasting damage.” The nurse handed the tray of Pokéballs back to Calem. “Of course, we at the Centers are happy to heal any Pokémon, even those who are not visibly impaired. I’m definitely not saying you shouldn’t have healed her; just trying to calm your nerves, that she is fine, and I’m sure you are a very caring and careful trainer.” 

 

Calem had to suppress a bitter laugh. How many Pokémon had she let die, now? How far past illegal had she already gone, on this self-indulgent journey? 

 

What was the one Shakespeare line. How deep in blood had she waded? How long ago was it, exactly, that she’d gone too deep to turn back? Because whatever else was true, it was clear that she was long past the point of no return, when it came to allowing herself to continue this farce. 

 

Buggie and Bugsy, the Ledyba and Grubbin. Liza the Slowpoke. Bouncee, a Tsareena that an Alolan trainer had traded to her, who couldn’t have had any idea what kind of baggage Calem carried with her. Titan, the Snorlax, a lucky find in Hau’oli, killed by Calem’s incompetence while fighting a Totem. Lavender, killed before he— she?— Calem couldn’t even remember its gender— had a chance to do much of anything at all, less than a mile from where she’d caught it. The Meowth outside of Hau’oli… there were more, weren’t there? Calem couldn’t— oh, yes, Alfred the Zubat. How many other deaths had she forgotten? 

 

Calem would keep Dana on her team until she evolved, she decided, but only train her via the Experience Share. Dana hadn’t signed up for this. None of them had, really, but at least wild Pokémon were going out of the frying pan and into the fire. Pre-owned Pokémon had reasonable expectations of safety that she couldn’t provide. 

 

All throughout Route 10, Calem ruminated on the consequences of her actions, and didn’t notice the Team Skull members until she basically ran into one of them. 

 

“Yo, don’t sneak up on us like that!” said the grunt Calem had hit as he jumped back. 

 

“What,” Calem said in a flat tone. 

 

From the other side of the grunts, Kukui’s voice said, “Calem, cousin, is that you? Glad you’re here.” 

 

Calem cocked an eyebrow and leaned to look around the grunts — sure enough, Kukui was sitting on a concrete bench about ten feet away from the Team Skull Grunts, who were standing next to the bus stop sign. 

 

“Oh, uh, sorry for running into you,” Calem said. “You two here to take the bus?” 

 

Both Skull Grunts made an X with their arms. “Nah, bro,” said one, “we’re here to take the bus stop.” 

 

Again, Calem said flatly, “What.” 

 

Both grunts were totally covering their hair with their hats, and nearly the same height, so Calem couldn’t tell one from the other. She couldn’t tell if one had been doing all the talking and the other silent, or if they’d been trading off responses. One of them, the one currently on her left, said “You ain’t never heard of taking a bus stop to go?” 

 

Calem sighed. “It’s not called a ‘bus go,’ though,” and Kukui laughed. 

 

“You sayin’ you got a problem with us takin’ this?” a grunt said. “We’ll show ya what ya get from messin’ with Team Skull!” 

 

“Please don’t,” Calem said, even as Calem sent out her Pokéball, “I’m super not in the mood.” 

 

But, of course he did. And of course Guardian, the strongest member of Calem’s team by a decent margin, was able to tear through the Grunt’s team like tissue paper. The other grunt also challenged her to try to save his buddy’s honor, but he only even had a single Raticate.” 

 

“Aw, fuck this shit,” one said after Calem had beat the other’s Raticate. “That piece of shit is like, as heavy as a Golem anyway. Let’s just go kick it in the mansion, dude.” 

 

Calem didn’t even bother to send a witty quip in their direction as the two retreated, she just walked over to the bench and slumped down to a vaguely sitting position next to Professor Kukui. 

 

“Cousin, are you okay?” Professor Kukui asked, and Calem looked over at him. The worry lines on his face stuck out in the glare of the street lamp above the bus stop, contrasted with the dark night outside of the little haven around the stop. 

 

It took Calem a moment to answer. When she did, she said, “You ever just want to lay in the middle of the roadway and wait for the cars to come by?” She blinked and nodded at the sign for the Exeggutor Express, “or the bus, I guess, whatever.” 

 

Kukui also took his time with his reply. “Calem,” he said, “I’m sorry I hadn’t realized before— I’m not a counselor, but I can get in touch with someone—” 

 

Calem interrupted him by waving her hand at him dismissively. “No, no, that’s just really dark humor, sorry. Didn’t mean to worry. I’m just…” She sighed. “I think I nearly killed one of my Pokémon, earlier.” 

 

“Ah,” Kukui said. “But how you said that — it’s fine after all, yeah?” 

 

Nodding, Calem said, “Yeah. She’s still fine.” Then it occurred to Calem what it would require for a normal trainer to realize they’d almost killed a Pokémon, and what that would be telling Kukui about her — nothing good, for sure. Incorrect, yes, but nothing she could contradict — she’d already established that the truth was, well. Considerably worse. 

 

“Honestly, I’m probably overreacting,” Calem said, and forced a chuckle. “The nurse told me as much. She just looked — a lot worse off than any other battle, any other Pokémon, I guess,” she said. “Still, it… scared me.” 

 

Kukui put his arm around Calem’s shoulders, causing her to jump. “Yeah, that’s definitely understandable” he said, not seeming to notice. “Battles can go sideways, sometimes. I’ll be the first to say that even things that should be perfectly safe, that have safeguards and redundancies to prevent disaster — sometimes, they fail.” 

 

Calem tried to look up at the Professor, but with his arm around her shoulders, she felt too close to him, physically, too awkward. Too much like what she’d run from. “I don’t—” she started to say, but finally, the lights of the bus shone in their direction, and the two were boarding the little vehicle. 

 

They were the only two getting on, but a small gaggle of tourists got off at the stop, to Calem’s surprise. There really was a demand, she supposed. 

 

On the bus itself, there was considerably more choice of seating than the one bench had provided, and Calem wasn’t sure whether she wanted to sit next to the Professor for the ride or not. 

 

Maybe if she’d gone in the afternoon, when the bus was full, she could have justified sitting elsewhere, but now when Kukui beckoned Calem over, she couldn’t refuse without making more of an ass of herself than she was willing to, at least not with the Professor presiding over her Trial Challenge. 

 

They were silent for about a minute, but there wasn’t really much to do to pass the time but talk. Outside the window, the view was too dark to make out, especially not with the incandescent lights on the ceiling of the top of the bus glaring away. 

 

“Isn’t it kind of counterproductive to light the bus,” Calem asked, “when the tourist attraction is an observatory?” 

 

Kukui chuckled at this, and the silence was broken. “I’m not sure that many tourists are looking for space objects that are that dim, but yeah, you’re not wrong,” he said. “Do you plan to, then?” 

 

Calem shook her head. “No, I… gave up astro a long time ago. I couldn’t ever hope to live up to Molayne, anyway, so trying here seems…” She shrugged with a sad smile. 

 

“Oh,” Kukui said, “you know Molayne?” 

 

Nodding, Calem said, “Yeah, he knew my dad when they were little kids. He moved away as a teen, I think, but they’ve at least tried to touch base every few years. Still can’t believe he’s a trial—” She blinked, then, and thought. “He— is okay, right? I heard about, uh, Acerola’s revolution, I don’t know much but—” 

 

Kukui nodded. “Yes, he’s well. In the aftermath of Acerola’s coup, he was… pretty much the only trial captain left over twenty, actually. Several had sided with Kahuna Nance, and…” Professor Kukui closed his eyes. “Well, after he stabilized what he could, he passed the title of Trial Captain on to his nephew.” 

 

“Wow,” Calem said. “Damn.” 

 

“Yeah,” Kukui said. 

 

Silence lingered for a bit. 

 

“You seemed upset earlier, too,” Kukui eventually said, “when we met in Malie Garden. Are you sure you’re doing all right?” 

 

Calem held her face and sighed. “Honestly? I’m doing the best I can,” she said. “I don’t know if you remember, but way back the night I met you, the night I got Oliver. My Rowlet.” He nodded, and she continued, “I think I rambled about something after I realized what Tapu Koko was and that he’d saved me. I definitely remember nearly bailing on the whole journey.” 

 

“I had wondered about that,” Kukui said. “But it didn’t seem to come up again, and you were typically competent and confident.” 

 

Crossing her arms and looking away from the Professor, Calem said, “Good to hear I come across like that. I’ve been…” She sighed again, not sure how to go on. 

 

“Take your time,” Kukui said, and put a hand on her shoulder. 

 

She shrugged his hand away, and said, “Please don’t.” 

 

Kukui raised his hands in surrender, and said, “That’s fair, yeah. No pressure from me.” 

 

Calem shot Kukui a sideways look. “Was that a pun on the ability Pressure?” 

 

“No,” Kukui said, laughing. “I’m a Moves man, you’d have to ask Professor Birch for ability puns.” 

 

Shrugging, Calem said, “Alas,” and chuckled herself. “No, the problem is that I was involved in the Team Flare incident earlier this year.” 

 

Professor Kukui looked at her again, more thorough. “In what way?” he asked. 

 

“Serena, the rising star trainer that — rightfully, I might add — got the credit for the take down of Team Flare was my league rival.” Calem blinked, and corrected, “Or rather, I guess I was her rival. Whatever. I was— I was there. I watched her catch the Yveltal, after Lysandre’s Infinity Energy machine failed to harvest its energy. I…” 

 

Kukui waited patiently as Calem took a deep breath. 

 

“I watched Lysandre make the decision that, if he couldn’t succeed, he would die. Shauna wanted— Shauna, one of my traveling companions,” Calem took another breath, and was trying not to either hyperventilate or stop breathing entirely, she wasn’t sure which — “Shauna wanted to try to save him, to drag him out of there. I was the one that decided we couldn’t — we were floors underground, and he had fired the Ultimate Weapon directly upward, we… I wanted to get out of there alive. But I left him to die.” 

 

“That’s… pretty awful,” Professor Kukui said. 

 

Calem looked at him, then. “You can’t… really comprehend, until you’ve been in that kind of situation, I don’t think. Especially since he wasn’t just, ‘some megalomaniac,’ he was—”  _ my boyfriends’ would-be fiance? _ What was she thinking, even trying to explain that part? 

 

She had been pausing enough during this impromptu therapy session, hopefully this one didn’t seem too much more suspicious. She took another breath, and grasped at mental straws. “He, personally, gave me this Holo Caster,” she said, and brought the device out of her bag -  still off, despite her intention to turn it on some days — weeks? — ago. “He knew Professor Sycamore, who was my overseer, and I interacted with him several times because of that. I wasn’t his best friend or anything, but… I knew him, to a degree. And still, I…” 

 

“No, you’re right,” Kukui said, “I can’t even imagine. Have you… talked to anyone else about this? Friends, or a professional?” 

 

Calem barked a laugh. “I don’t fucking have friends,” she said. “I mean, for right now yeah, but I’ll end up ditching them too, before it gets too real. And my dad’s health insurance sure as fuck doesn’t seem to believe anything but actual war can cause mental illness.” She drew her knees up to her face and hugged them, burying her face in the gap. 

 

“Your friends care about you,” Kukui said. “We all care.” 

 

Face still buried, Calem said, “That’s part of the fucking problem, actually.” She took a breath, then, and looked at him. “You know what the fucking kicker is, though?” she asked, and didn’t wait for him to respond, gesticulating wildly. “If that legendary fucking Pokémon had just been able to stay buried, none of this would have happened. There would have been no Ultimate Weapon, no risk of total annihilation. No death aura bullshit, no destroyed hamlet in the north of Kalos, no death I’d have to feel guilty about, no boyfriend  leaning on me for emotional support that I can’t fucking handle — I’d still be a depressed sad sack, sure,  _ fine _ , whatever! But I wouldn’t be jumping at the very mention of the L-word like it’s  fucking Voldemort.” 

 

One last look at Kukui, and she added, “And I hate that I’ve just dumped this whole bullshit on you, and your scientific brain is probably nearly as bad as mine is at emotional comfort so the best you can really do to help is some version of ‘That’s rough, buddy.’ Yup, my girlfriend turned into the moon, or close enough, with this magical fucking bullshit.”

 

The uneven road up to the Observatory had the bus bumping along, not enough to be really uncomfortable, but enough to fill the silence. Larger bits of gravel would sometimes be kicked up by the tires, hitting the undercarriage and making a ‘ _ ping!’ _ then the relative quiet would slowly get louder again. 

 

“I’m good at making friends,” Professor Kukui said, apropos of nothing, “but yeah, you’re not wrong that I’m no expert on humans. Plenty are, though, and it sounds like you’d do well to get a Lock-On with someone.” 

 

Calem turned to fully face the Professor, raising an eyebrow. “A move joke, now?” she said. 

 

He smiled and shrugged. “Thought it would lighten the mood?” 


	14. Chapter 14

When the two stepped off the bus, Professor Kukui gestured at Calem to follow him to the fence over to the right side of the observatory. He leaned his elbows over the rail, and just looked out at the starry sky for a few moments, before saying, “Mount Hokulani is the second tallest peak in Alola. The tallest is just over there,” and he pointed outward, “Mount Lanakila.” Squinting, Calem could make out the shape, rising out of the darkness, far away. 

 

“It’s a sacred place,” Kukui continued, “or else this observatory would have been built there. A lot of people opposed me, but not long from now, Alola’s first league will be opening on the peak. Construction is already ongoing.” 

 

Calem nodded, but asked, “Why are you telling me this?” 

 

Kukui said, “You’re an accomplished trainer, Calem. I don’t know how to help with your past, but battling seems to be a healthy outlet. I’ve helped trainers on their Island Challenges before, but you and Hau are my first kids who might become world-class Trainers. My first who aren’t likely to give up on Training after becoming an island challenge champion.” 

 

This pulled a laugh from Calem. “I mean, technically,” she said, “I’ve already done both of those things, even if the Johto League is the red-headed step child of the various Leagues.” She shrugged, and added, “I don’t know that it’ll look any better, if I get to be the Champion without anyone to really stand in my way, though.” 

 

Kukui shook his head, “Not quite. I’ve already started contacting all the Alolan trial champions who’ve notably kept training since then. You two won’t be the only trainers challenging the Kahunas, this time as the official Elite Four, for the championship. We’ve adopted the newer League format, where it doesn’t matter the order one challenges the Four in, so the first in line isn’t necessarily going to get to the Champion’s room first, assuming they even do defeat all four members. No,” he said, “it’ll be a trial in its own, defeating the four battling at their full strength, and claiming that spot first.” 

 

Calem looked at the peak in the distance again. “Yeah,” she said, “I guess so.” 

 

Grinning at Calem, Kukui said, “I’m sure you’ll be there shortly, but enough daydreaming.” He backed away from the fence, and waved for Calem to do the same. “Let’s get on over to the Observatory.” 

 

* * *

 

“Ah, yes, Royal, it’s good to see you,” Molayne said when he saw Kukui. “You said you’d be over tonight with your latest trainers. It’s a pleasure to—” The man cut himself off when he finally looked directly at Calem. “Oh, Calem! Don’t tell me, you’re one of Kukui’s kids?”

 

Calem cratched the back of her head self-consciously, and nodded. “Yup,” she said, “sorry I didn’t let you know I was here. Figured you were busy, and I’d get around to it, but… well, you know.” 

 

Molayne laughed, “You are your father’s daughter,” he said, and patted her on the shoulder. “Well, I’ll just give you the Steelium Z now, then. I’m not a Captain anymore, so I don’t have to ask for a whole trial.” He showed her how to do the dance to call the move, too, and started to lead the pair deeper into the facility. 

 

“Hang on,” Kukui said, “I’ve got my own business up here. And—” He frowned comically large and pointed a finger at Molayne — “Who’s this ‘mask’ figure? I’m Professor Kukui, obviously.” 

 

Molayne raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe I said anything about a mask, Professor. That does remind me, that I do have something for you, though.” He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a colorful wad of fabric, with definitely red and green. Calem thought she saw blue as well, but it wasn’t prominent the way it was currently crumpled. If that wasn’t the Masked’ Royal’s wrestling mask, though, Calem would eat her hat. 

 

Kukui snatched the lump with more irritation than Calem had seen from him before, even though he was still smiling. “I’ll see if there’s anything interesting with this, sure,” he said, never actually looking at the mask as he stuffed it in his own pocket. “For now, I need to do my own thing, then I’ll be going back to Malie Garden. Good luck, have fun, and all!” Kukui waved and left the building. 

 

“So I’m not crazy,” Calem said, once Kukui had left. “He so strongly denied any connection to the Prof while he was in Mask getup, and no one else seemed to recognize him — I think even Professor Burnet seemed to talk like she had no idea who was under the mask.” 

 

Molayne chuckled. “He was one of my first friends, when I moved here,” Molayne said, “we came up with the design of the Masked Royal together. Of course, Kukui had the initial idea, was the one wanting to get into wrestling — I don’t think I believed, as a teenager, that he’d actually manage to become a celebrity. Especially not alongside being a Professor, he really seems to do everything.” Molayne shook his head disbelievingly. 

 

“Yeaaah,” Calem said, “like you don’t? You’re—” She gestured around them. “All this. I remember when I visited last year, Marzanna went on about the tech here.” Calem shrugged. “I know she’s a tour guide, but you know— still.” 

 

“Ah,” Molayne said. “Did you know her, then? I’m… sorry.” 

 

Calem blinked. “Huh?” 

 

Molayne shook his head. “Oh, you didn’t—?” He hesitated, then explained, “Marzanna was one of a number of people that was on a ferry that went missing. I think she was meeting her parents — I never had the time to get to know her…” He sighed. “No trace was ever found, wreckage or otherwise. It wasn’t long after the Tapu had resettled, and a lot of chaos elsewhere, so not many resources could be devoted to the search.” 

 

“Oh,” Calem said, “oh jeez. I— I think I saw her off for that, oh Arceus…” 

 

Molayne looked over at Calem curiously. “You’ve been in Alola for that long?” he said. “I thought Kukui’s Trainers only started their journey this summer.” 

 

Calem considered telling Molayne about her other movements, but realized — “Yeah. The day before I got my Rowlet, actually, Marzanna saw me at the ferry dock and I waited with her. She even specifically mentioned her parents?” 

 

Molayne’s eyebrows knitted, and he said, “I— are you positive it was her? The ferry disappeared in March. Maybe she’s alive after all…?” 

 

“Huh,” Calem said. “Maybe s—” 

 

Marzanna’s hand had been weirdly cold, wasn’t it? And Calem couldn’t remember what had been weird about her exit, but had remembered feeling unsettled. 

 

And now, well, Calem knew she had some kind of something killing the Pokémon around her. 

 

“Maybe, but I might just be wrong,” Calem said. “I wouldn’t want to get your hopes up.” 

 

Molayne gave Calem a sad smile. “I see. Well, thank you. It’s… tough, losing friends. I’m sorry you had to learn about her like this.” 

 

Calem nearly laughed. “Yeah, I guess.” 

 

“Why don’t you take on the trial?” Molayne said. “Soffy should be nearly ready to test his totem Pokémon luring machine, and I’m sure he’d love to do so with an actual Trial Goer to experience it.” 

 

“Yeah, why not?” Calem answered, and smiled. “Sounds fun.”

 

* * *

By the time Hau had finished his own trial with Sophocles — the power still blew out, even with a few Charjabug added to the machine after Calem beat her trial the night before — it was already midmorning. Calem had slept in, though, so Hau found her in the Center’s trainer dormitory and woke her up, pushing her to train a bit on the slopes of Mount Hokulani before heading back down and meeting up with the Professor again.

 

“Why we gotta see ‘im?” Calem mumbled, still half asleep. 

 

Hau shrugged. “I dunno, just checking in with us? Oh, and I think he’s gonna be staying in Malie for a bit, helping Lillie with whatever it was she was doing in the library, so he’s not gonna be able to check in for a while, I guess.” 

 

Calem sighed as she rolled out of bed. She shouldn’t have worried the professor about her bullshit, she was fine. And now he was going to hover over them, probably, which was just… fucking fantastic. 

 

At least the training did get her mind off of things. She caught several Pokémon, including one of her favorites — “Fuck yeah, a Skarmory!” she shouted to no one in particular, pumping her fist in the air. 

 

A delightful, strong new Pokémon she could add to her team. A regular badass. 

 

It was a few levels lower than the rest of her team, so she shuffled it to the front of her team, and didn’t bother to heal her Pokémon before meeting the Professor in the gardens. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t already defeated all the trainers there the day before. 

 

Unfortunately for her, the Professor wasn’t alone. “Four turns!” he was saying, when Calem approached. “You three face me in a Battle Royal. A Swift and an Incinerate or two, and you’d be knocked flat.” He stood tall and proud, staring down the three Team Skull grunts that blocked the bridge to the center of Malie Gardens. 

 

“Wh-wha—” said one of Kukui’s opponents. Calem thought she recognized him as the man with seafoam hair from Diglett’s Tunnel. 

 

“Yo, you serious?” said another, with no hair visible from under his cap. “Fine! Three on one, you old fogey!” 

 

Before they could release their Pokémon, or Calem could even consider stepping in to help, a man with white hair called from the top of the bridge, “Yeah, I’m sure you’d love that.” He wore black and white, like the rest of Team Skull, but his outfit looked nothing like their uniform. He also lacked the hat, opting instead for sunglasses with the iconic drooping left eye perched on his white hair. 

 

The grunts murmured and parted for him, allowing him to walk right up to Kukui and poke him in the chest. “Beat down three of my kids at once, wouldn’t that be a fun time?” He shook his head. “Look, Kukui, the crusty old traditions of Alola are out, and we gotta make our own.  Failures like you and me who couldn’t be trial captains gotta make do, I get that! But we don’t need no fuckin’ league, you and I know that. I’m the strongest fucker on Alola, and no one’s gonna take that from me.” 

 

“Yeah,” Kukui said, and while Calem couldn’t tell from her angle, she could hear the grin in his voice. “I didn’t  _ want _ to be a Trial Captain, Guzma.  _ I _ didn’t just give up, something you couldn’t say for yourself. No, I just had other goals. I’ve found my strength and my happiness — through actual hard work. But you wouldn’t understand that, would you?” 

 

Guzma’s eyes widened, and he pulled back his clenched fist. “You mother fucker,” he said.

 

“Come on,” Kukui said, holding Guzma’s stare. “If you’re as tough as you say, show me. Battle—” Kukui turned around and looked towards the garden’s entry gate, and caught sight of Calem. “Perfect! Calem, come on,” he said, and went to pull Calem forward. “Better than me,” Guzma,” Kukui said, “why don’t you battle one of my students.” 

 

Guzma gave Calem an up and down once-over, and raised an eyebrow. “A Z-ring, huh? A little old to be doing that, aren’tcha? What’cha hopin’ to accomplish with this?” 

 

Calem shrugged noiselessly. 

 

“You don’t even know,” Guzma said, and laughed. “You don’t even fucking know! Yeah, fine, fight me, I’m destruction—” 

 

“—in human form! You’re him!” Calem finished, snapping her fingers suddenly.

 

Guzma blinked. “Hell yeah, it’s ya boy Guzma, boss of Team Skull—” 

 

“No, no,” Calem said. “I mean I guess sure, but— last year, you and I went drinking, on my birthday,” she said. “Wow, I wanted to thank you for so long,” and then she stopped talking as she realized the confused looks on both Kukui’s and Guzma’s faces. 

 

“I don’t know who the fuck you think I am,” Guzma said, getting out his Pokéball. 

 

Calem interrupted him again, “No, I know it’s you, you used the same line then. ‘Destruction in human form.’ You punched a guy for me, but — you’re the reason I dated Augustine, remember, we drunk dialed him because you said drunk dial was the perfect excuse?” 

 

Guzma lowered his Pokéball. “Oh,” he said. “Actually, yeah.” He paused to cross his arms, then added, “What the fuck, I thought you were cool. The hell are you doing with  _ this _ asshole?” Guzma gestured at Kukui by Calem’s side. 

 

Calem shrugged, “Doing the trainer circuit, as I do,” she said. “And speaking of ‘thought you were cool,’ the  _ fuck _ is this about Team Skull? Some of the grunts have been assholes, I guess, but do you not fucking know what you’re implying with the whole ‘Team’ deal?” Calem grimaced. “If you and your asshats do like every other fucking Team mafia bullshit, Guzma, I will find you myself and I will punch you in the goddamn face, I am  _ not _ in the fucking mood for more Team Bullshit.” 

 

Guzma laughed, but he wasn’t smiling. “Oh, that’s how it is?” he said. “You’re one of Them, now, I get it. Well, you’ll get a beat down just like anyone else, then.” He glanced at Kukui and said, “Some day, I’ll put you in your place, too. But first, I’m gonna fuck up everything  _ you  _ care about, see how you fuckin’ like it.”

 

“Fine, bring it,” Calem said, pulling out the first Pokéball in her lineup. 

 

Rapier the Skarmory came out for his first trainer battle, cawing and excited for action. Guzma let out his Pokémon, something Calem hadn’t seen before — Golisopod. Before Rapier could do anything, the Golisopod had managed to land a First Impression, but it did hardly anything against Rapier’s metallic feathers — thankfully, as she wasn’t at full health. Right, Calem had forgotten about that. Still, if that’s all that an attack did, Rapier would be fine. 

 

Calem wasn’t sure what type or types this Pokémon was, especially not with that move she didn’t recognize either. Her best guess, by the looks of it, put it as being some kind of Alolan Fossil Pokémon, though, which meant rock type. “All right, Rapier,” Calem said, “Metal Claw!” The bird attacked as directed, but… it didn’t seem to do much to the opposing Pokémon. 

 

The Golisopod used Swords Dance, which allowed Calem a damage-free turn to use Feint. It did more than the Metal Claw, and didn’t trigger any messages about Not Very Effective from her Rotomdex, so… not Rock type, not a Fossil after all. 

 

“Golisopod, Razor Shell!” Guzma said, and the Pokémon leapt forward, striking at Rapier with a watery blade. “Critical Hit!” the Pokédex announced, and Calem watched with horror as Rapier’s health dropped, lower, lower… and he was down. 

 

“You son of a bitch,” Calem said, pocketing Rapier’s dead ball. “You’re going to pay for that.” With that much power behind Razor Shell, the opponent was probably Water type, so Calem decided not to pussyfoot around any longer, and sent in Oliver. Dangerous, with that Swords Dance up, but if anything that made Calem want to take out the Pokémon faster, wanted to eliminate the risk as quickly as possible. 

 

…And on the very next move, Oliver’s Razor Leaf — neutral effectiveness, oddly — triggered something called Emergency Exit, and it was automatically withdrawn in favor of an Ariados. 

 

Both of Guzma’s other Pokémon were Bug Type, actually, and Pearl took them out without much fanfare. She also took Golisopod with similar ease, and Calem felt even worse about Rapier — if she’d only had him use Air Slash, sure it was a special move on a physical Pokémon, but at least she’d have had that type advantage. 

 

When Calem had won, Guzma didn’t react at all for a moment. He stared forward, seemingly at nothing, while Calem, Kukui, his grunts, and the crowd at large looked on. Then he grabbed his head and shouted loudly enough to startle the grunts next to him, “Guzma! What is  _ wrong _ with you!?” He pulled his hands away from his head — Calem could see some white hairs sticking out of the fist closer to her — and said, “Fine! Time for my vaunted fucking team to destroy everything. You hear?” He seemed to direct this at the crowd in general, and wherever he looked, the bystanders backed a few feet away. 

 

He turned to Calem, then, and said, “Calem, right? I’m gonna remember you. A good face to beat down.” 

 

“I won’t forget you either, asshole,” she responded. “You fucking—” Calem blinked, and remembered that even if she’d told Kukui several things about the incident last year, she still wanted to keep her trainer’s license, and having a body count in the double digits wasn’t terribly likely to look good for her. As such, she couldn’t exactly just announce to the whole world that she knew, with one hundred percent certainty, that the Pokémon he’d fainted was actually dead-for-real. “—jerk,” she finished lamely. 

 

After the crowd had cleared, Kukui and Calem sat in the eating area for the ice cream parlor again. 

 

“So, you dated Augustine?” Kukui said as soon as he was settled, causing Calem to jump. 

 

“Where did you ge—” and then Calem realized what she’d said to Guzma. “Okay, yeah. It was supposed to be on covert, for both of our sakes. He’s not gonna get in trouble now that you know, is he?” 

 

Kukui shook his head. “No, it just…” He stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “Any Professor would be concerned if one of their students disappeared without a trace,” he said, “but… now that I know, Augustine’s worry did seem more than professional, I guess.” 

 

Calem looked away from Kukui and tried to focus on her ice cream. “So he does talk to you,” she managed. 

 

“Yeah,” Kukui answered. “We’ve known each other for a long time. We’re both Regional Professors, you know,” he said. “Once Sina and Dexio put together that my new trainer was their old trainer, yeah, Augustine and I started talking about you. Sometimes teachers just don’t gel with trainers, so I didn’t think you’d need to hear about your old Professor Sycamore asking after you. But knowing this…” Kukui sighed and took a bite of his own ice cream. “I think you should call him, Calem.” 

 

Calem gulped and opened her mouth, but didn’t manage to say anything.

 

“He’s been doing better since I’ve been able to update him about your progress,” Kukui continued, “but I’m sure he’d still love to hear from you. Even if you’re not, ah,  _ together _ anymore, he would still want to know how you’re doing, as a friend.” 

 

Calem shrugged. “I don’t know if I can,” she said. “He— he wasn’t in a good place. I can’t… I don’t know how to — to deal.”  

 

“Just… try, yeah?” Kukui said. “He’s an old friend. You’re a friend now, too, and I think it would help you both.” 

 

“Sure,” Calem said, but she wouldn’t meet Kukui’s eye. “I’ll try.” 

 

Kukui nodded. “That’s all I can ask.” He took another bite of ice cream, then said, “Where has Hau gotten to, anyway? You’re here, so I assume he told you that I wanted to see you two off again.” 

 

Calem chuckled. “I don’t know, we rode the Express from the halfway point down the mountain together,” she said. “Maybe he’s distracted by something in the city?” 

 

Shaking his head, Kukui said, “That boy can be so scatterbrained, sometimes. I wanted to give these to both of you at the same time, but I’m not sure that’s going to be possible at this rate.” Kukui dug into his lab coat and pulled out a green crystal. “Decidium Z will allow you and your Decidueye to use the Z-Move Sinister Arrow Raid, a powerful Ghost-type move. It should be useful against the upcoming Ghost trial, yeah?” Kukui tapped the side of his nose and smiled.

 

“Wow,” Calem said, taking the stone. “Yeah, thanks.” She looked at the rock in her hands, and said, “If I ever get back into research, I really need to look into Z Crystals, too. What the fuck even  _ are _ Pokémon.” 

 

Kukui laughed and slapped Calem on the shoulder. “Anyway,” he said, getting up, “I’ll go looking for Hau. Go talk with Lillie at the library before you leave? She looks up to you a lot.” 

 

Calem nodded. “She’s a good girl, I’d be delighted.” It would be nice if Lillie looked at her less as a role model and more as a romantic object, but it was probably for the best she not be too attached to Calem, anyway. 


	15. Chapter 15

Calem plopped face down on her bed for the night in the Malie Pokémon Center, and just lay there for a minute. 

 

Eventually, though, she sighed and sat up, then let Guardian out of his Pokéball. “So,” she said to him, “I’ve never been quite clear what Pokémon in their balls do and don’t experience, so I gotta ask: did you see what happened with Rapier when I battled Guzma?” 

 

The Greninja sat on the bed, and steepled his froggy fingers in thought. “The Skarmory? Yes, I did,” he said. “I’m also unsure the level of cognizance that others have while confined in the balls; I can understand Pokémon speech, though, so we could just ask. But I assume that’s not the reason you’ve decided to speak with me.” 

 

Calem sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, no. The thing about Rapier—”

 

“Typically,” Guardian cut off Calem, “from what I know, Pokémon are automatically recalled before they reach critical condition in battles, correct?” Calem nodded silently, and Guardian continued. “This happened as intended with your Skarmory Pokéball, but while it was in transit to the ball in energy form, it…” Guardian made a mock explosion with his fingers. “Or, more accurately, what there was left of its life force, was drawn into your own, leaving the Pokémon quite dead.” 

 

Calem blinked. “Oh, wow,” she said, “You actually know more about this than I do…” She shook her head. “Either way, I should have said something earlier. At the Paradise, when we battled Hau, something…” 

 

Guardian nodded. “Yes, you should have,” he said, “but we cannot fix the past.” He croaked oddly, and it took Calem a moment to realize it was his version of a laugh. “Or, you and I cannot, anyhow,” he added. “All we can do is move forward.” 

 

Calem cringed at the rebuke. “I’d understand if you want your ball back now—” she said, digging through her bag to find it, but Guardian cut her off. 

 

“No,” he said, “I’m not  _ pleased _ that you kept this from me, but it does not change my mission. This may be the first time in… well, probably since I first encountered Zygarde so long ago, that my life is in real danger. Your energy feels enough like mine, but different— can I assume you encountered Yveltal?” 

 

Calem blinked and nodded. “A— a dude with a big plan had found it, and used it for a weapon—” 

 

“Oh my,” Guardian said. “Even I wasn’t exposed to the Ultimate Weapon. It’s little wonder, then.” 

 

“I guess,” she said without much conviction. “Anyway, uh. Now that you’re filled in on that, I also have a phone call I should make, to someone I think you should talk to too—” Calem shrugged. “Maybe not tonight, I don’t care about that,” she said, “but eventually. When you—  _ if _ you go back to Kalos, I think you could help each other out. Professor Sycamore studies Mega Evolution and the Infinity Energy of Mega Stones kind of in general, but also — I wasn’t the only one affected by the Ultimate Weapon, and like, he’d welcome any help on dealing with that. You know?” 

 

Guardian nodded. “Yes, I see. I’d like to meet him, then.” 

 

So Calem turned on her Holo Caster for the first time in months — saw that she had multiple unread texts and new voice mails, but she ignored those for the moment. She checked the clock — it might be as early as like five o’clock there, if she was mathing wrong, but hopefully it was more like mid-morning. Calem scrolled down and found Augustine’s number in her contacts, hesitated over the entry… but managed to hit the call button. 

 

The line rang. It continued to ring, and ring… eventually, Calem got the voice mail message* — or at least, she thought that’s what it was; it was clearly his voice, but the words were Kalosian. He sounded so much brighter than she’d heard him, those last few months before she’d run. “Hey,” she said. “It’s Calem. I’m… sorry.” She took a breath, and forced herself to continue. “For everything. I hope you’re doing okay. I… I’m calling because Professor Kukui said I should. I accidentally let slip that I dated you, earlier, so that’s—” Calem wasn’t sure whether voice mail on Holos would have the visual hologram or not, but Calem couldn’t look at the Caster on the desk regardless of whether it made any difference. “That’s another thing to apologize for, I guess. Anyway, I’m—” 

 

Calem cut herself off, looking over her shoulder at Guardian. He was probably far enough away to be out of the metaphorical frame. 

 

She turned back to her Holo and finished, “Anyway, I guess that’s… all for right now. I’m sorry, I hope you’re doing okay. If you don’t want to hear from me, that’s fine, I won’t bug you again. If you do, uh. I won’t be turning my Holo off again.” She shrugged, and finished, “I— bye, I guess?” and clicked off the device. 

 

Turning to Guardian, she said, “Well, that was kind of a disaster. Figured you’d want to actually  _ meet _ him before saying anything, and also that… I dunno, it felt shitty to be like, ‘hey yeah the only reason I I’m talking to you is because I need your help,’ I guess?” 

 

“Fair, I suppose,” Guardian said. “We should probably sleep now that we’ve covered that, though. It’s been a long day.” 

 

Calem laid back on her bed. “Fuck yeah it has, Arceus fucking damn.” 

 

\-----

 

The rocky path on Route 12 certainly weren’t very pedestrian friendly, but Calem managed well enough. It was slow going, though, having to carefully step her way between jagged rocks, most of them a jutting a foot or more up from the path, and little space in between. 

 

When Calem heard a loud noise behind her, then, she was more than a tad exasperated to see Hapu riding her Mudsdale through the rough terrain like it was nothing. “Ah, Calem!” the girl said from atop her steed, “I was hopin’ to find ya. Didn’t expect you’d actually already started down here though, phew!” 

 

Calem didn’t respond as the girl pulled up next to her. “Hand me your Pager, won’t ya? You’ve been a big help, an’ I shoulda done this back when we ran int’ one another back in town.” Calem did as asked. “I was so dazzled by yer friend Lillie, I clean forgot. She’s so…” Hapu stared into space for a moment, not speaking, not doing anything with the ride pager. “Elegant, splendid…” 

 

To ‘disguise’ her response, Calem coughed and muttered into her hand, “ _ Gay _ .” 

 

Hapu shook her head, then, and went back to the Ride Pager, then handed it back to Calem. “Anyway, she’s a fine lady. No excuse to shut ya out like that. To make up f’rit, I’ve registered ol’ Clyde herself here on there,” Hapu said, and slapped her Mudsdale’s neck, who knickered at the attention. 

 

Blinking, Calem said, “Oh, thanks.” She looked at the pager, then asked, “Any chance you could just register my own Mudsdale to my Pager, I’d hate to inconvenience you—” 

 

“No can do, missy,” Hapu said. “Gotta be special licensed, I’m ‘fraid. Both you and the Pokémon. For now, why don’t ya ride with me?” Hapu blinked, then added hastily, “If you don’t wanna that’s fine too, ‘course! Don’t think I jus’ waited for you to need my help.” 

 

Calem tilted her head to one side. “Okay, I can’t tell if you’re hitting on me at this point.” 

 

“No, of course not,” Hapu said. “You’re good folk, if strange. I’d never attack you ‘thout good reason.”

 

A moment of staring at Hapu didn’t cause her to break a smile, or a grimace, or anything, leaving Calem to conclude that Hapu really wasn’t messing with her. “Okay,” Calem said, and hopped up behind Hapu.* 

 

Hapu even stopped to allow Calem to catch Pokémon a couple times, and to battle trainers; but for the most part, they got through the route much more quickly than Calem would have done on her own, with or without a Mudsdale. At the end of the route, they parted ways, leaving Calem to check out the Mantine Surfing beach on her own.

 

\-----

 

Now that Calem had three separate islands she was able to Mantine Surf to, and thus three separate leader boards to climb as she worked on her skills… well, more than a few hours were wasted as she practiced her skills.  _ It gives Battle Points _ , she rationalized,  _ much easier and less lethal than Battle Royal(e). _ Which was technically true, but Calem didn’t even buy much with her earned Battle Points.

 

Calem wasted three solid days this way, but eventually, she brought herself back to the training path, but even this didn’t take her forward — she backtracked through Route 12, on Clyde again but without Hapu, to find the place her map called Blush Mountain. Another two days wasted, getting there, checking out the power plant, training, taking pictures, returning to the well-trodden Trial Path.

 

Augustine didn’t call Calem, or leave a voice mail, or text, in that time. She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. 

 

Finally, though, Calem was moving forward once more. She was surprised to find a trailer park on Route 13, so far from Malie City. Maybe this was the outskirts of a place Calem hadn’t found yet, but the other two islands’ large Motels were a bit further from urban centers, so she really didn’t know what to make of this. 

 

As Calem was being turned back from the desert north of the park — “Sorry,” the Trial Guide said, “Not until you’ve beaten Acerola’s trial!” — Hau came up from behind and caught her in a hug.

 

“Calem!” he said, too loudly for being so close to her ear, then thankfully backed off and allowed Calem to face him. “I can’t believe you beat Guzma! Kukui told me all about it, man!” 

 

Calem chuckled to hide a grimace. “All—? Like, how much is all, exactly?” 

 

Hau gave Calem a confused look. “Uh, how you swept through his team, with only one of your Pokémon fainting? Like, I mean I know you’re always beating me without any of yours fainting somehow, but that Guzma guy is like! The big boss guy for all Team Skull, that’s so cool!” Hau practically had stars in his eyes as he praised Calem. 

 

“Oh, cool,” Calem said, “that’s, uh. Good to hear, I guess?” 

 

“Aue,” Hau said, grinning, “don’t feel embarrassed! If it helps, Kukui just kind of said it in passing, I had to keep asking about it. He’s not advertising it on TV, you know?” He grabbed Calem’s hand and started tugging her south, away from the desert entrance. “I dunno how though! Like Calem, I can tell he’s proud, and like— man, I saw you on the Mantine Surfing leader boards too, is there anything you  _ can’t _ do?” 

 

Before Calem could answer that there was, in fact, a  _ lot _ she couldn’t do, a familiar voice came from the direction of the motel. “You only have the one volume, don’t you?” 

 

“Oh geez,” Hau said, when he caught sight of Gladion. 

 

“Look,” Gladion said, carefully not approaching the pair, or even looking at him as he spoke. “Don’t be so loud about beating down Team Skull around here, okay? It’s… not a good idea.” 

 

Calem looked around, and realized that several of the folks milling about in the trailer park had unnaturally colored hair. Sure, plenty of regular Punks on Alola did the same, and none of these people were actively wearing the Team Skull uniform, but it wasn’t exactly a stretch to imagine that these folks might moonlight for the Team. “Thanks for the tip,” Calem said. “Any particular reason you’re helping us…?” 

 

Gladion glanced at her, then away again. “I know I work for Team Skull right now, you don’t have much reason to trust me,” he said, “but— I need to ask you a favor. They’re looking for a Pokémon named Cosmog, do you know anything?” 

 

“They  _ what _ ?” Hau said, aghast. “Er, I mean— no way, of course not.” 

 

Sighing, Gladion said, “So you do know.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how Team Skull knows about it in the first place… What matters, though, is that they  _ do,  _ and they want it.” Gladion did something that Calem couldn’t see, since he was facing away from them. “It’s not even strong, they couldn’t use it — but it  _ is _ connected to another Pokémon, can summon one with unfathomable power—” 

 

Calem cut Gladion off with a groan. “A fucking Legendary? Are you serious,” she kicked a stone on the path in frustration. Calem didn’t turn to look at Gladion’s reaction to her outburst, trying to maintain the image that they weren’t actually talking to each other, given the potential Skull presence. Hau was staring directly at Gladion, unfortunately, but Calem was looking at Hau as she spoke, so that would have to do.

 

“Probably,” Gladion said. “So you know why you can’t let Team Skull get its hands on Cosmog, at any cost.” 

 

Calem laughed. “You have literally no idea how much I don’t want to see that bullshit happen again.  _ Arceus _ , why do people keep doing this bullshit.” 

 

Gladion said, “Good,” then walked away without any kind of farewell. 

 

“Geez, he’s always so intense,” Hau said. “He really needs to lighten up a little.” 

 

Calem shook her head. “If he knows that much about a Legendary, I don’t know.” 

 

Hau looked up. “Oh, yeah — what did you mean, ‘happen  _ again’ _ ?” 

 

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Calem said, failing to meet his eye. “Ancient history. Let’s just get on with the challenge, yeah?” 

 

So they went on together, past the trailer park and into a small, run down town. “Huh, wasn’t expecting this,” Calem said, looking around. It was busier than she’d expected, though if anything it was in worse condition than the trailer park next door.

 

“Hey,” Hau said and pointed. “That’s the way to Mount Lanakila, isn’t it?” There were construction warning signs closing off a tunnel in the side of a slope. They didn’t say what the project was, but as Calem leaned back, she could see the summit far above. “Wow, our own Pokémon League,” and Hau sighed in amazement. “I mean, the Island Challenge is cool but wow! That’s gonna be so great.” 

 

Calem nodded, not sure what to say. The only League she’d made it to herself was the Indigo League, shortly after Johto had been officially connected to it. In the bureaucratic mess, the Elite Four were the weakest then of set in not just the Indigo League’s history, but of the international League Association as a whole. 

 

“We’re gonna be up there, someday,” Hau said, and looked at Calem. 

 

She chuckled. “You, Hau? Probably, yeah. I doubt I’ll be there, though. I don’t… really finish challenges, anymore.” 

 

Hau punched Calem lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t say that, cuz!” he said, “you beat that Skull dude at his own game. And you’ve got me, now. I won’t  _ let _ you not finish.” He grinned and crossed his arms, waiting for Calem to answer. 

 

“Yeah, sure,” Calem said, figuring it was easier to just let Hau believe that… and then she added anyway, “You’re not the first who’s said that, though.” 

 

“Too bad,” Hau said, “I might take a while to get ready, and maybe I’m not as good at battling as you are. I’m here for the fun, not to be the best, or whatever. But you know what? I don’t care if you’re good or not either. We might both wipe out on the first one of the— what was it they’re called? Elite Four? — but we’ll  _ get  _ there, you and me.” 

 

Calem looked away. “I’d… really rather not wipe,” she said. 

 

“Who do you think is stronger, anyway?” Hau said, “The Elite Four or the Kahunas? I think the Kahunas, probably, but I guess we’ll know for sure when we get there.” 

 

“And, well,” Calem added, “when it’s actually  _ ready _ . You know that if you complete your trials before the League’s open, just knowing Professor Kukui isn’t going to be enough to get you early access or something.” 

 

Hau laughed. “Oh, sure,” he said, “whenever it’s open. But the way Kukui was saying, it sure sounded like it’s gonna be soon!” He shrugged. “I dunno, I kind of got the impression that it might actually be ready sooner, but that he was gonna wait until we were done to allow folks to challenge. You know, give his first students since he’s been working on the League a chance to be the first Alolan League Champs.” 

 

“Oh, wow,” Calem said. “Fuck me, is he really?” 

 

Hau’s smile dropped and he looked at Calem in confusion. “Wouldn’t that be cool, though? It sounds like great fun to me, I gotta admit.” 

 

Calem rubbed her temples. “Oh, yeah,” she said, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. “Just… so much fun.”*

 

As they turned away from the Lanakila Entrance, though, Calem was distracted when she saw some very distinctive outfits. “Fuck, it’s these guys again?” Calem said, and marched forward. 

 

Captain Phyco and Soliera noticed her, and did their strange robotic Alola mockery. “Ah, greetings, Calem,” Phyco said. “I did not notice your approach, being in a place such as this.” 

 

“A place such as  _ what _ ?” Calem said, too forcefully to be anywhere near polite. 

 

Soliera answered, “Long ago, The Blinding One came to this dimension, we believe, and fought a great battle — here. The scars still remain, though much of the damage here looks significantly more recent than we would have guessed. Is there perhaps some kind of time dilation effect happening?” This last question she directed at Phyco.

 

“It’s unlikely,” Phyco said, “our instruments seem to be communicating in real time to Earth One. For three thousand years’ worth of time dilation — no, we’d be seeing the effects even on our own scale. There’s no doubt that some of these readings are from The Blinding One, but something else is corrupting the data.” 

 

“ _ Hello, _ ” Calem said, waving at the pair, trying to get their attention back. “I’m not done with you.” 

 

Both looked up at Calem. “I apologize, I don’t understand what you mean?” Soliera said. 

 

“I mean,” Calem said, “I don’t fucking trust all this talk that sounds an awful lot like a Legendary Pokémon. I mean that we were literally  _ just _ warned about a certain Pokémon that you already knew about the first time we met. I  _ mean _ that if you don’t get the fuck out of here, I’m going to  _ make _ you leave.” 

 

Hau stepped in between Calem and the pair, then. “Whoa, whoa, Calem! Buddy!” he said, looking over his shoulder at Phyco and Soliera. It was hard to see any emotion with half of their faces covered by their visors, but both had taken a step back and were clearly alternating glances at each other and Calem by the way they moved their head. “These guys aren’t Team Skull, look at them! It sounds like they’re just doing, I dunno, some kind of science.” 

 

“We’re trying to find a way to bring the light that The Blinding One stole from us, a millennium ago,” Soliera said. “It gave us light, once, but we were greedy. We used it up, and in rage and pain, The Blinding One took everything it could. We have a device, Megalo Tower, that has kept it in check these thousand years — but it has reached its limit, and The Blinding One has escaped.” 

 

Phyco added, “We have every reason to believe that it came here, from the radiation it has left behind. Similar to what you Pokémon Trainers with Z-Power emit. We hope to capture it before it recovers its strength, and steals the light of this Alola, too.” 

 

“Aue, that sucks,” Hau said, then looked back at Calem. “See, though? They’re in a really bad situation — and I think that means they’re on our side.” 

 

Calem looked over Hau’s shoulder, then met his eyes. “I still don’t trust them.” 

 

“Is that a reason to get all mad, though?” Hau asked. “And I mean— that sounded like more than a friendly challenge. I dunno, Calem, I like you a lot, but… you sounded a lot more like the bad guy than they did, just now.”

 

That got through to Calem. “Oh,” she said. “Shit.” 

 

Hau let out a sigh of relief. “Great, okay, so let’s help these guys and let them be on their way, okay?” 

 

Calem sighed. “Okay, fine.” She turned to the pair. “If you have real science stuff and whatever, you might want to go find the Dimensional Research Lab on Akala Island, in Heahea City. South end of it, right by the Hano Grand Hotel. And get in contact with the Aether Foundation through them, if you can. Both of those groups are working on stuff about Ultra Wormholes, which kind of sounds like it’s connected with whatever you’re doing?” 

 

Soliera and Phyco both nodded. “We call ourselves the Ultra Recon Squad, actually,” Soliera said. “It’s interesting that both of our worlds have not just found the Ultra Energy, but named it similarly.” 

 

“Regardless,” Phyco said, “this does seem to be a better lead, with all these other readings muddling the results here. I’m not sure this is even working properly,” he said, and hit the device he held with the heel of his palm, “the damned thing has suddenly picked up an entirely new kind of energy.” 

 

“Right, Captain,” Soliera said, then turned to Calem and Hau. “I apologize that we came off as suspicious,” she said, and bowed slightly. “We do not know your customs very well, or even understand your way of life. It is very foreign to us. We appreciate your guidance, and I hope we will see each other again soon.” 

 

Calem shrugged. “I kinda hope we don’t, honestly,” she said, “nothing against you but I don’t want anything to do with whatever the hell it is you’re doing.” 

 

Soliera smiled. “Fair enough,” she said. “Then farewell.” 

 

The Ultra Recon Squad stepped closer to one another then, and grabbed each other’s hand. Before Calem could make a snide comment, Soliera punched something into the device on the wrist Phyco was holding, and the two blinked out of existence. 

 

“Aue! That’s so cool! Wow, I wish I could do that,” Hau said, jumping up in excitement. “But it’s not like we’re really that far away from Aether House, anyway, so I guess it’d be kinda pointless.” Hau shrugged, then looked at Calem. “C’mon, I’ll race you there!” 

 

Calem blinked and started to object, but Hau was off regardless. Calem sighed, then started to follow — with a detour towards the Pokémon Center in the middle of the town. She’d learned her lesson, in that regard, and found she envied Hau that he didn’t have to worry so much about being caught at anything less than full health. If he could pull through at all, with a single Pokémon barely clinging to consciousness, they’d be right as rain in a few hours at most. If she was anything less than perfect, there were lasting consw

 

\-----

 

“Stay away from me!” Lillie’s voice rang out, and Calem took the steps down from Aether House’s entrance two at a time. 

 

The Team Skull grunt said, “Your bag moved, roight in front of me! You expect me to just ignore that?” 

 

Calem skidded to a halt between the two. “I expect you to back the fuck up when a lady asks you to,” she said, standing up, and winding up for a punch— then dropped her arm. 

 

“Yo, it’s you,” said Jay, the Skull grunt who’d tried to help Calem those months ago in Hau’oli. “Been a while! Were you really ‘boutta punch me though?” 

 

Lillie stuttered from behind Calem, “D-do you know this man, Calem?” 

 

“Sorry, yeah,” Calem said, and wasn’t sure who she was answering, exactly. 

 

Jay folded his arms. “I’d heard that you’d beaten down some of us Skulls, but I figured it had to be someone else. I trusted you, bruv.” 

 

Calem shrugged, but didn’t let her guard down. “You can take care of yourself, clearly. Some folks can’t, and I’ll fight for them if I need to.” 

 

“Oh, that’s bloody rich,” Jay said. “You get on your feet ‘nuff to get a Pokémon from the Fancy Ass Professa’, and you think you’re better than us? You’re some kinda hero?” Jay spat at the ground. “Not this time, you fuckin’ twat. Come on.” He ducked Calem’s swipe and stepped back, releasing his Drowzee. 

 

Calem raised an eyebrow, and said, “Bad id—” but before she could finish her quip, Jay had directed the Drowzee to attack. Calem managed to push Lillie to the ground out of the way in time, but wasn’t so lucky herself. The world spun, and nothing seemed to be the right color, but Calem managed to get out a Pokéball and throw it toward the battlefield. She didn’t even see which one, just called out, “Get it!” and trusted whichever team member to beat the Pokémon without guidance. 

 

Quite suddenly, Calem was better. Not entirely better, but functional. She looked up in time to see the flash of red light as Jay withdrew his Pokémon, and Oliver preening in apparent disinterest. “You’re no joke,” he said. “This ain’t over, though. This is— it’s worse than everyone else, mate. We expect alla them to hate us, but—” He pointed at Calem. “You should  _ know _ .” With that, he turned and walked away.

 

“Maybe don’t steal Pokémon, then!” Calem shouted at his retreating back. He gave her a middle finger without turning around. 

 

Behind her, Lillie said, “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause trouble.” 

 

Calem turned around and helped Lillie up from the ground, then wrapped her in a hug. “Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault,” Calem said, then pulled back to look Lillie in the eyes. “Don’t ever apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong, okay?” Calem cupped the side of Lillie’s face and smiled gently. “You’re perfect, just the way you are.” 

 

Lillie blushed and looked away. “I’m—” she hesitated. “Thank you, but… I’m really not.” 

 

“You really are,” Calem said, and wanted so much to lean forward and kiss Lillie in that moment. Instead, she rubbed at a smudge on Lillie’s cheek and said, “Come on, let’s get you inside so you can clean up.” 

 

“Oh, yes,” Lillie said, and glanced down as Calem started to lead her up the steps. “I’m—” 

 

“Don’t you dare say ‘sorry,’” Calem said, grinning. “If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry — I pushed you, after all.” 

 

Lillie nodded. “Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” 

 

Calem chuckled as Lillie clamped her hands over her mouth. 

 

Inside, Acerola was just about to lead Hau outside and to the trial, and raised her eyebrow at Lillie’s appearance. “So are you all dirty from Hapu’s ride over, or did you two have some fun without me?” Acerola said. 

 

Lillie missed any innuendo entirely, responding, “Calem saved me from a Team Skull grunt… but I’m afraid I’ll need to use the facilities here before I’m presentable again.” 

 

Acerola chuckled. “Feel free! My Aether House is your Aether House.” 

 

“I’m not exactly an orphan, though… are you sure it’s all right?” 

 

Nodding, Acerola said, “Sure! It’s all set up by Aether, and I’ve still got my little treasure trove, to cover anything Aether’s not willing to. Though being a Trial Captain, I’m able to get Aether to cover a lot.” She winked and shooed Lillie inside. “Now go! I haven’t known you for long, but even I can tell you hate to be messy like that.” 

 

So Lillie was pushed into the showers, and Acerola led Hau and Calem both to the trial site. “Here we are!” she said. “Only one of you can go at a time, sorry, but there’s plenty of training to be had on the beach, yeah?” 

 

Hau went first — Calem wasn’t sure if this was the first time in the trials he would challenge a trial before she had, but if it wasn’t  _ the _ first time, it was  _ one of _ the first — and Calem trained her team against trainers and wild Pokémon on the beach. Nothing seemed to want to catch, unfortunately, but she wasn’t too bothered. She’d still rotate her team members every now and then, try to train new Pokémon, but after Calem had shown Samson Oak her finally-evolved Persian at Blush Mountain, her team had pretty much solidified. 

 

Pearl the Toucannon with Beak Blast was probably the best Early-Route Normal/Flying Bird Calem had ever trained; Femme Fatale had started life as a Normal/Flying type Fletchling, but Calem wasn’t sure whether its Fire/Flying type final form in Talonflame really left it in the same class as Pidgey and Starly. She’d been nearly as good as Pearl, but… well, she’d been Calem’s first battle death, before Calem had even seen Yveltal. 

 

Skullcrusher the Vullaby was a little redundant, typing-wise, but Calem had never managed to train up a Mandibuzz before (which felt like a crime against lesbians everywhere) and even unevolved, she managed to hold her own. 

 

Flufflebuns the Ribombee was a surprise. Cutiefly wasn’t exactly Calem’s aesthetic, but she had done well in the match against Hala, and managed to hold her own a lot better than Calem had ever expected any bug to do. 

 

Donkey Oatey the Mudsdale, on the other hand, was exactly Calem’s aesthetic, and that Stamina ability made her worried little heart melt. She was still weak to Special attacks, but she could tank nearly any physical hit — and the longer she stayed out, the stronger she became, the less Calem had to worry about health. 

 

Oliver the Decidueye was, perhaps obviously, not going to leave Calem’s side unless (…until) he died. He was a ferocious attacker, taking down foes with little apparent effort, and good type coverage in his high-attack moves. He now even had a specialized Z-Move he could use, though Calem hadn’t done more than test it against a few wild Pokémon, yet. 

 

And finally, Guardian the Greninja. He was still a mystery in a lot of ways, but he was a powerful attacker as well, and a powerful ally. 

 

So, no, Calem wasn’t particularly interested in catching and training anything from this beach. 

 

It was sunset by the time Hau left the supermarket’s front entrance. “Wow, that was intense!” he said, and eagerly showed off the Ghostium Z to both Acerola. After a little victory dance, he said to Calem, “Good luck! And don’t get too spooked — actually, maybe wait until tomorrow? I didn’t mean to make you do this at night, I was scared enough when it was light out!” Hau scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, and shrugged. “Anyway, I think I’m gonna turn in. You coming?” 

 

Calem shook her head. “Nah, I’m good,” she said. “I… don’t think Ghost Pokémon are likely to scare me.” 

 

Hau blinked. “But they’re spooooky!” he said, though he was grinning. 

 

Calem tapped Oliver’s Pokéball on her belt. “Don’t say that where my Decidueye can hear you,” she said, “he might take offense.” She didn’t mention that she had reason to believe she’d met an  _ actual _ ghost, so Pokémon with vaguely ghost-like properties were a little less… well,  _ haunting _ . 

 

“Fine, fine,” Hau relented. “I think Lillie’s staying at Aether House, so I’m gonna head there rather than the Pokémon Center. You should hang out with us when you’re done!” 

 

“Sure!” Calem said, and waved him off. 

 

So. Now time for her own trial. 

 

Calem stepped inside the building, and found it… almost peaceful, the way the moonlight shone in through the holes in the roof. Even the broken shelves and machines, the scattered merchandise, told a story of violence — but one long since past. 

 

And then Calem saw someone hanging out in the corner, in a cashier’s uniform, smoking a cigarette. Calem stared at him for a moment, and he waved, then pinched out his cigarette’s light — and disappeared himself. 

 

Rolling her eyes, Calem moved forward. 

 

Another faux-cashier, this time a girl, stood behind one of the checkouts. The conveyor belt moved, suddenly, and she acted like she was scanning groceries, but nothing real or ghostly was in her hands. She looked up at Calem, and Calem nodded. The girl jumped, and was gone just as quickly as the previous ghost. 

 

Eventually Carlo popped out of Calem’s bag, and said “The photo function of the Pokedexzzz should startle the Ghosts into battle,” he said, “and they’ll stop moving boxes to block our way.” 

 

Calem looked around startled, and realized that yes, there was definitely junk behind her that hadn’t been there a moment before. “All right,” she said, and did so. The humanoid ghosts ducked away when she pulled out the camera, but the Pokémonic ghosts weren’t even visible at all before she did so. A floating doll, shifting papers, things happened on their own — but when Calem pointed her camera that way, she could see the Gastly in its viewfinder. None of them were good shots, since she had to hurriedly throw out a Pokémon to defend herself when they attacked, but oh well. She wasn’t a professional photographer, anyway. 

 

Finally, she made it to the back… and didn’t see anywhere else to go, nor anything that looked like a Totem Pokémon. 

 

Carlo looked around too, but he couldn’t find anything, either. Then, a man in white stepped out from far corner, mostly blocked by debris. His suit was much too pristine, his purple hair too well-oiled, to be convincing. “You need to work on your ghostly illusions, little Gastly dude,” Calem said. 

 

The man laughed. “Perhaps,” he said, and Calem took a step back. “Even so, I’d like to help you — if you’re willing to help me in return.” 

 

Calem eyed the man up and down. “Okay, I guess you’re a Gengar. Still, what could you want from me?” she said, looking to Carlo. Her Rotomdex blinked his display’s eyes, and shrugged as best as he could with his lightning bolt arms. 

 

The man leaned against the wall. “I’d like you to tell the Trial Captain something. That’s all.” 

 

“That doesn’t sound too bad, but I won’t agree until I hear what it is,” Calem said. Carlo was looking between Calem and the man, now, with a question mark in the middle of his screen.

 

Laughing, the man said, “That’s fair, you’ve no reason to trust me. Well, all I have to say is this: I think I understand, now… and I forgive her.” Then the man was gone, just as quickly as the others, and there was a noise — behind Calem, not where the man had been.

 

She turned around to find some of the roof had caved in, and a beam of moonlight shone directly on a bit of wall they’d passed earlier. In the light, though, Calem could see it  _ wasn’t _ just a wall — there was a door marked ‘employees only’ there. 

 

The room beyond was small, and had probably started life as a storage closet — but everything had been cleared out, and the walls had been plastered with pictures of Pikachu. Mostly female Pikachu, and those that weren’t initially had been cut to leave a heart shaped end to its tail. Many had also been scribbled on with an orange crayon, and some pictures of Raichu were mixed in as well, Calem realized. Some of these were Kantoan, but most of them were Alolan, and all of these had been scribbled to be a chocolate brown. For a moment, Calem wondered if, given the trial’s setting, it might  _ literally _ be chocolate on those images. 

 

Calem stepped further into the room to investigate the collage, and noticed that the eyes of all the Pikachu and Raichu had been scratched out. So less hero-worship and more resentment; that was more fitting with a Ghost-type trial anyway, Calem figured. 

 

Carlo tapped Calem on the shoulder, and she turned around — nothing was visible with the naked eye, but Calem could see the grayish fabric in the corner of Carlo’s view screen. Slowly, she pointed him directly where the thing would be, and—

 

The Totem Mimikyu attacked. 

 

Or rather, it drew up its Totem Energy, and towered over Calem menacingly, sparkling in the moonlight through the broken roof — but waited for her to make her move. It wasn’t any more viscous than other Totems, thankfully, or else Calem might have been in real trouble. 

 

Pearl was the first Pokémon in Calem’s lineup, and she seemed like a good choice. She’d be immune to any of the Totem’s Ghost-type attacks, so Calem started the battle with Beak Blast. She started charging, and the Mimikyu attacked her with — Play Rough, of course, but at least it got burned for its trouble. 

 

Pearl wasn’t looking too great, though. She survived, but only barely — Calem hadn’t thought about the Totem’s increased stats, nor the fact that she’d fought the hostile Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar outside. But Pearl  _ survived _ , and unleashed her Beak Blast. 

 

The Totem’s Disguise broke, the false Pikachu head slumping over. “It’zzz health was unaffected,” Carlo said. 

 

To add insult to injury, the Mimikyu called for aid. 

 

“Shit,” Calem cursed, and withdrew Pearl. She needed power. At least the Mimikyu’s attack was less than it had been, with the Burn, but she needed to end this quickly. So Oliver was on the field next, and the Mimikyu attacked with Play Rough again. Mimikyu’s Haunter ally used Hypnosis… which missed, and Calem breathed a sigh of relief. 

 

“Sinister Arrow Raid!” Calem shouted, and Oliver drew up his phalanx of ghostly arrows. He wasn’t faster than the Mimikyu, though, and now that it wasn’t surprised by a switch, used Shadow Claw. 

 

Oliver reeled back, and Calem watched the health indicator on Carlo’s screen drop, and felt her stomach go with it. 

 

And yet, Oliver survived. His eyes were glowing with ghostly power, now, and he’d finished forming his attack. With a great screech, he flew forward, and flung the arrows at Mimikyu. Calem stared at the health indicator, starting from full, falling. It passed the halfway mark, and the indicator turned yellow, then shortly afterward the one-quarter mark and the Totem was in the red. 

 

And it was down, in one shot. Calem nearly whooped for joy, until the Haunter started to move. 

 

Oliver only was well within the red of his own health bar. Ghost’s weakness to itself had been what Calem was counting on to end the battle quickly, but… 

 

The enemy Haunter used Hypnosis. It landed, this time, and Oliver fell asleep, but Calem nearly cried with joy. 

 

This one didn’t need to have any particular firepower leveled at it, so Calem switched Oliver out for Skullcrusher, and finished the battle in a few more turns. Even so, her heart was pounding like crazy when she made it outside. 

 

“Aw, you’re as pale as a sheet!” Acerola said by way of greeting Calem outside. “You look like you’ve seen… a ghost.” She had a shit-eating grin as she said it, and Calem rolled her eyes. “Anyway, let me see your PokéFinder!” 

 

So Calem handed it over, and Acerola nodded. “Yup, that’s Mimikyu, all right. Pretty fuzzy, but I mean, Ghost types are notoriously difficult to photo anyway, so this is a good attempt! Especially that angle with the moonlight, it almost looks like it’s Shiny.” 

 

“I mean,” Calem said, “it had all these pictures of Pikachu and Raichu — colored orange and brown, respectively. Definitely seemed obsessed with Shiny Pikachu and Raichu, or at least Alolan Raichu I guess.” 

 

“Really?” Acerola said, and put her finger to her chin in thought. “You know, I had a Shiny Dedenne, back before, and it was brown. Oh, well, that’s not the point — for that picture, you get… this!” With entirely too much pomp and circumstance, Acerola gave Calem the Ghostium Z. 

 

Calem thanked her for it and nearly left for the Aether House again, but stopped. “Oh, right,” she said. “Acerola, there was a Gengar or something in there that asked me to tell you something.” 

 

Acerola looked at Calem, grinning and raising an eyebrow. “Well, what is it?” 

 

“He said…” Calem took a moment, wanting to make sure she got the wording exactly right. “He said, he thinks he understands, and he forgives you.” 

 

Acerola’s smile dropped for a moment, and she blinked. Then she doubled over laughing, “Oh, Lunala above, Calem, That’s dark. I  _ love _ it!” 

 

“I, uh… what?” Calem wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this.

 

“Was it a shiny Gengar? Maybe even Mega?” Acerola said, still laughing. 

 

Calem shook her head. “No, uh. Actually, he had an illusion up. Some dude in a white suit. I don’t actually know if it was a Gengar or not, just… assumed.” 

 

“ _ Wow _ ,” Acerola said again. “I know I look young but sheesh… how gullible do you think I am?” 

 

“Hey,” Calem said, hurt. “I don’t—” 

 

And then the man from inside was there, with a hand on Acerola’s shoulder, and she stopped laughing. “Thank you,” he said, and disappeared. 

 

“Well,  _ that _ was quite a chill,” Acerola said, and straightened up. “Guess someone walked over my grave, eh?” 

 

“Uh,” Calem said. “Sure.” 

 

They started back towards Aether House, finally, but Acerola wouldn’t let the subject drop. “When did you look up my history to play that joke, anyway? Did you have this planned for days, or just a spur-of-the-moment when you saw the Mimikyu looked shiny in the picture?” She shook her head, idly brushing her hair with her fingers. “You really had me going, at first. Wow.” 

 

Calem could only blandly agree as Acerola spoke, preoccupied with the idea that she’d never have been able to tell those ghosts apart from living people if they hadn’t disappeared so suddenly. 

 

\-----

 

“You’re back already?” Plumeria was standing outside of Aether House with a Grunt on either side, looking past Hau who opposed her. “Was hoping to get out of here before that.” She turned to the Grunt by her side currently battling Hau, and said, “You dumbasses take too long! Hurry it up, yeah?” 

 

She gestured to the other grunt, who stepped forward, and Calem stepped up to battle him. 

 

Plumeria caught her attention, though. “Calem, right?” she said. “Nah, you’re mine this time. I just need you out of the way for plans or whatever, but nah. I’m not about to go easy on you, as much shit as you’ve pulled.” 

 

Calem cracked her knuckles. “Fine with me,” she said. And for all Plumeria’s tough talk, beating her was honestly pretty simple. Golbat was a nuisance at most, immune to Ground type attacks as it was, but still not exactly powerful; Salazzle, with its double weakness to Ground was a  _ joke _ against Donkey Oatey. 

 

“Fine,” Plumeria said on her defeat, “I see why my kids take so long. Whatever, you’ve run us off. Have fun playing hero, asshole.” She gestured for her Grunts to follow and sauntered off, looking back only to make sure they were following. 

 

As they watched the party retreat, Hau commented, “Geeze, I hate battles you can’t afford to lose. At least we didn’t, though.” 

 

Hau was always positive, so maybe he hadn’t tempted fate so much as just finally been wrong, but when they got inside the Aether House to find Lillie consoling Acerola’s orphans, Calem felt like she shouldn’t have been surprised. Was the whole Yveltal thing also a bad luck aura? What a nightmare. 

 

“I-I’m so sorry,” Lillie said, when they entered. “I couldn’t do anything… they came in here and just—” She hesitated. “Why, even?” 

 

Acerola ran forward to hug the crying kids, soothing them while Lillie regained her composure. “Those people just came in and took Yungoos’s Pokéball right out of his hand…” She shook her head. 

 

“How  _ could _ they?” Hau wondered. “Stealing a Pokémon not just from a kid, but a kid from an orphanage.” He looked at Calem with a grimace. “I mean, they couldn’t really miss what the House is, right?” 

 

Calem shrugged. “Maybe they just… really hate Aether that much? It’s not like Yungoos is even worth much—” 

 

As one of the kids heard this — Calem couldn’t remember their names, but she thought the Yungoos was the boy’s — he started crying again, and louder. “Hey, uh, Calem? Please don’t?” Acerola said. 

 

“I just meant, like,” Calem clarified, “it’s not rare. They won’t be able to sell it, so we can definitely get it back—” 

 

“Actually,” Lillie interrupted for what Calem thought was probably the first time in her life, “they left a note… for you.” 

 

Standing up, Acerola said, “All right, let’s see it.” 

 

Lillie shook her head. “No, uh. They said it was for Calem, actually.” 

 

Acerola, Hau, and Calem all looked at each other. “That’s pretty weird, right?” Hau asked. 

 

“Yeah,” Acerola said. “I do often take trainers here to meet the kids, it helps everyone in the long run. But most Trainers don’t really stay here longer than an hour, and you already were here earlier.” 

 

Calem couldn’t think of anything useful to add, so she just took the note from Lillie and read it. The handwriting was surprisingly elegant and curly for what Calem would have assumed from Team Skull, but the message still held a clear and present danger. 

 

_ You want the Yungoos back? Come to Po Town. Alone. No Hau, no Acerola. You and your Pokémon, that’s it. You can guess what happens if you don’t.  _

 

_ Big G wants to see you.  _

 

_ — Plum _

 

Calem showed the note to her companions. Lillie blanched, the other two frowned. 

 

“I don’t like this, Calem,” Hau said. “Alone? That sounds like trouble…” 

 

“I can take them,” Calem said, clenching her teeth and her fists, trying to hide a nervous gulp. “It’ll be… fine. Don’t worry, I’ll get Yungoos back.” Before Calem could talk herself out of going, before the others could say anything that she could use as an excuse, she left. 


	16. Chapter 15 & 1/2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the beginning of ch 16 but I wanted to share this before writing the rest of the ch because I'm proud of it and didn't want to make everyone read the Whole Dang Chapter lmao

Totally unprompted, Guardian popped out of his Pokéball. “There’s something here,” he said. 

 

Calem blanched, looking at the sea of red flowers before her, and glancing at the sign she could barely see on the other shore — pointing towards the Lake of the Sunne, where she’d spent an afternoon last winter. “Like… a Legendary level of ‘Something?’” she asked. 

 

“Not forward,” Guardian said. “Behind us.” 

 

Calem turned to stare at Guardian. “What? But there’s barely a Pokémon Center here here, a trainer here or there.” 

 

Guardian shrugged. “I am fairly sure that there is a Zygarde Core somewhere near, and can vaguely feel the direction — but beyond a gut feeling, we’ll have to find it the old fashioned way.”

 

“Yeah,” Calem sighed. “I guess.” She didn’t bother to withdraw Guardian as they looked, since he acted as something like a compass

 

When she looked up to find a pristine white trailer, Aether logo emblazoned above the door, she smacked herself in the face with a loud  _ thwap _ . “It’s that way, right?” Calem said, and Guardian confirmed it. 

 

An Aether scientist opened the door and let the pair in, and Calem tried not to gawk at the machines and instruments crammed into the tiny space. 

 

“Oh, Calem!” Dexio said from across the room, and carefully picked his way over. “Fantastic, we were hoping you or Hau would be coming this way, with some Zygarde Cells in tow. We only have the one, and there’s only so much we can do with that, strong as it is; any chance you’ve collected more in the Cube?” 

 

Calem refrained from commenting that it  _ still _ wasn’t a cube, instead drawing it out. “Sorry it’s not much,” she said. “They’re kinda hard to find.” 

 

“Perhaps I can help with that,” Guardian said, startling Dexio. The Greninja didn’t acknowledge this, though, simply dug into the folds of his scarf-tongue and pulled out a Pokéball, clicked it open to withdraw a satiny sack, and dipped his webbed fingers into it — showing the pair that it was filled quite full with small, green, Zygarde Cells. 

 

“Wait—  _ how _ ?” Dexio asked. “Our Zygarde Cube is state of the art, and barely manages to contain the cells safely anyhow, but these look perfectly healthy…” 

 

Guardian answered, “Zygarde gave this to me when I first encountered him. He told me I might need to help him reassemble some day. That this bag, interwoven with mithril, would be the only way forward.” He nodded at the cube Calem still held. “Frankly, I’m impressed you humans managed to make something that would suffice.” 

 

Dexio looked between Calem and Guardian. “Calem,” he said slowly, “where did you  _ find _ this one?” 

 

“Aether Paradise,” she responded. “No, I don’t know. Just that he wants to help and thinks we can work together.” 

 

For a moment, Dexio was silent. “Okay,” he said, eventually. “At any rate, yes, that should be plenty. You don’t seem to have any other Cores, though. That’s a shame, but what we have is enough.” 

 

“Enough for what?” Calem asked, but Dexio didn’t answer. Instead, he just fed the gathered Cells into a machine. They gathered in a large chamber, and melded into a single gelatinous blob. Dexio added the Core Cell last, which was not only larger than its fellows, but had a red crystal at its heart — the core itself, probably. When it attached itself to the mass, it began to solidify. Four tendrils grew downwards, eventually shaping themselves into legs and paws; a lump became a canine head with snout; the top of the mass darkened and smoothed out, becoming a properly proportioned chest, spine, and tail. Still, bits seemed to retain their slightly gooey nature The ears were a little longer than they should have been, a few cells detached and melted back into the body, and there was a long train of cells floating out behind it from its neck. The dog-creature seemed to be staring at Guardian, and Calem realized it looked like a scarf. 

 

Dexio pressed a button, and the chamber drained its liquid contents before opening on one side to let the Pokémon out. “Meet Zygarde, 10% Form,” Dexio said. “Well, okay there’s almost definitely more than ten percent of Zygarde’s cells here, but we’ve calculated and think the minimum amount of cells for this form would be ten percent.” 

 

The dog looked up at Calem, Dexio, and settled on Guardian. It jumped up and started licking Guardian’s face, who let out his croaking chuckle, and said, “I’ve missed you, too.” When Guardian had managed to set the Zygarde back on the ground, he pointed at Calem and said, “This one is our partner, for now.” 

 

Zygarde ran up to Calem and gave her the same treatment he’d given Guardian. “Down, boy!” she said, and the dog backed off. 

 

“You won’t want to do that when we’ve gathered more cores,” Guardian said, bending down to scratch the dog behind the ears. “It seems like you’ve found the Core that prefers this form, though.” 

 

“Yes!” Zygarde suddenly spoke. “This is a fun way to be. Hi, Hello, Greetings! How are you?” 

 

“Um,” Calem said. “Hi?” 

 

“You are a Good,” Zygarde said. “I do not know how I know this, but I do. It’s nice to meet you. I love you.” 

 

Calem smiled. “Hey,” she said, and knelt down to be on the dog’s level. “You’re a good boy, you know?” 

 

This was, perhaps, a mistake — Zygarde’s eyes lit up,  _ literally _ , and he jumped on Calem once again. Without her height, this time she was knocked onto the floor, pinned by the Pokémon’s front legs, drowned in dog slobber. 

 

Eventually, she managed to get enough breath to say, “That’s enough!” and Zygarde pulled back, and sat. His butt still wiggled from his vigorous tail wagging, though. 

 

Calem shook her head and laughed. “You’re a good doggo,” she said, and managed to put up a hand in a  _ don’t _ gesture before he started on her again. 

 

Instead, Zygarde said, “I am a Good Doggo?” He barked then, and said again, “I am a Good Doggo!” He jumped up and started to run around in circles, banging into some of the equipment on his way. 

 

Even Calem asking him to “Please, slow down!” didn’t seem to do much to dampen his mood, or his energy. When he ran into a cabinet hard enough to knock over a beaker, and it shattered and caught fire, of all things, the chaotic comedy of errors quickly turned into a mad dash to get the Zygarde into a Pokéball. Unfortunately, Zygarde saw the ball flying in his direction and jumped to catch it in his mouth, managing to bypass the normal capture mechanism of the device. 

 

When the front door opened, the Zygarde ran outside, heedless of the person between him and freedom. 

 

Sina dropped the box of pizza she’d been holding when Zygarde pushed past her. When she recovered her balance, she looked between Dexio, the mess of broken lab equipment scattered on the floor, Calem, the unknown-to-her Greninja, the open Zygarde Reassembly Unit, the fire that was still burning on a shelf, and finally behind her at the black and green dog that was now frolicking in the grass. 

 

“Well,” she said. 

 

“Well,” Calem replied. 

 

“You don’t need my help operating the Reassembly Unit,” she said, and bent over to pick up the pizza.

 

“No,” Calem said. “Dexio helped me with that.” 

 

“You should probably collect your dog, then,” Sina said. 

 

Guardian raised his hand and said, “Should you find more Core Cells and reconstitute them, even if they take this form, I would not refer to them as dogs.” 

 

Sina looked at Guardian. “You talk?” 

 

“Yes,” Guardian said. 

 

The shelf fire ran into something that made a ‘ _ pop!’ _ but didn’t get any noticeably larger. “So, is there a story there?” Sina finally asked. 

 

“Yes,” Guardian said again.

 

In the distance, Zygarde barked.

 

“The Zygarde does too, actually,” Dexio said. 

 

“Huh,” Sina said. 

 

“I’m gonna…” Calem motioned outside. “Go get my dog, I guess.” 

 

There wasn’t much room in the doorway, and with the mess on the ground there wasn’t much room for Sina to step into the room, either. So they had to do an awkward shimmy around each other to let Calem through. 


End file.
